Merlin and Co Quote
by Windy Silvermist
Summary: Basically I'm having Merlin and the crew but mostly Merlin quote speeches and lines from other movies, books and TV shows that I adore . Includes BAMF!ish!Merlin in my opinion, though I'm rather mild-mannered, and crazy . There's also a lot of slumping into chairs, armies running away, and variations of the word "seeming". Enjoy! Quote suggestions are adored. Series of oneshots
1. Words Win Wars

Hey Windy here. Basically it is as I said I'm going to take epic quotes/speeches and make Merlin characters say them. This is from Doctor Who "The Pandorica Opens" . I would recommend looking at a clip of it first, because I embellished a little, to have it make sense. Also the real speech is epic and everyone should listen to it. I didn't make it a Doctor Who crossover because I eventually hope to do more then Doctor Who quotes...Anyway hope you enjoy.

Discliamer: IDOM or DW

* * *

They were losing, and everyone knew that they were losing. Arthur wiped his forehead before the next soldier attacked. He and his knights could not keep this up much longer. This battle had gone on for days and there had been no rest, the knights just took short shifts to eat, and sleep and then they were back on the battlefield. Morgana's army was huge (according to Merlin she had joined forces with several other rebel groups who didn't like his reign) and seemingly endless, and much to his dismay, _magical._ They were not tire they were all fresh being able to take longer breaks, and Arthur's men were dropping like flies. _Very soon_, he thought, _I'm going to have to surrender_. While it burned him to just give up his throne like that and hand it to _Morgana _of all people, he could not continue to have his men die like this endlessly and likely for no purpose.

He thought this all while weaving and slashing and jabbing his way through Morgana's men, but as he pulled his sword from some dead soldiers chest, a thought occurred to him, a truly terrifying thought: Where was Merlin? Despite his protest Merlin continued to fight along with Arthur, regardless of his not dismal, but not very good sword skills. And he had insisted on fighting whenever Arthur went out. But Arthur had not seen Merlin for at least fifteen minutes. Where was that blasted idiot? He couldn't be…No he wasn't going to think like that, he was pretty sure Merlin didn't even know how to die. He never seemed to die in all the other death warranted situations, including the ones where Arthur himself thought they were going to die. So there was no way Merlin could be dead.

"Hello Morgana and Minions!"

As if to reaffirm Arthur's belief that Merlin was incapable of dying he heard that annoying never ceasing voice, and he wouldn't tell anyone but it was one of the most relieving sounds he'd heard all day (As if they didn't know). However the strange thing was, that it wasn't beside him he heard this voice, but rather all around them. It was if it was being shouted from far away. Only it was rather inhumanely loud. It seemed to be coming from in front of him…Oh no. That idiot was somewhere up in the front lines; he was there in the midst of all the soldiers being stabbed. And he didn't have a sword. _That idiot!_ Arthur thought as he ran towards the voice.

X

Merlin really didn't want to do this. Reveal his magic like this in front of both armies. But Arthur was losing and Merlin knew he would give up the throne rather than risk losing any more men. They need a miracle and that was exactly what he was going to be. Plus, the magical portion of the army _was _made of druids; there was a good chance they'd cease once they figured out who was talking. So he casted a spell that made his voice louder and said the words that meant there was no turning back.

"Hello Morgana and Minions!" those around him seemed to cease but he could still see that most of the where fighting. He saw a group of rocks in the distance and worked his way towards them, still talking. "Whoever takes Camelot, takes all of Albion. But bad news everyone." Merlin scrambled quickly up the stones. "Cause guess who! "

X

Arthur could see Merlin now, but what he was saying wasn't sinking in. What was Albion? And how was he even talking this loud? He stopped running towards Merlin in his confusion and just stared at him. Listening to what he had to say.

X

Merlin took a deep breath and with bravado he didn't feel gave a laugh. "Listen, you lot, you're all fighting and clashing and clanging about. It's really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I. AM. TALKING!" As he said the latter bit he conjured a column of flame above his head.

Silence.

Merlin grinned. "Now, the question of the hour is, who's protecting Camelot. Answer: I am. Next Question: Who's coming to take it from me? Come on! Look at me! No plan, no back-up, no spells worth a damn, oh, and something else." He looked out over Morgana's army, which stood stalk still, with a rather anguished version of love and protectiveness burning in his eyes. "I don't have anything thing to lose. Cause I just revealed my magic to the world, to Camelot, to Arthur. There's nothing holding me back now." He said that in such a way that everyone on the opposite side shivered a bit.

"So if your running around down there with your silly little armies with all your silly little swords, and you got any plans on taking Camelot tonight, just remember whose standing in your way. Remember! Every _black _day I ever stopped you. Because let me tell you: armies of skeletons and immortal armies don't just fall. Griffins don't just die. And most certainly people like Cornelius Sigan, Nimueh and Morgause don't get defeated without a little help." He wiggled his fingers in a way that suggested magical assistance and looked around quite cockily.

"So remember those days. Think about who would have the power, the _magic_, to do such things." He could practically hear the name Emrys rippling through the army opposite him. "And then! _And then! _ Do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first."

Merlin jumped off the rock and headed towards a stunned Arthur, not even turning around to see the army retreating behind him.

X

Arthur was frozen. Merlin had magic. Merlin had just run off and entire army without even doing anything. He'd won this war with words. He'd also indicated he'd had a hand in every major victory that Camelot had ever had. And now that he thought about it, all those falling tree branches were beginning to look mighty suspicious.

And then Merlin was there, walking towards him as jauntily as if he was just bringing him lunch. Merlin smiled his signature smile and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Well, looks we won't have to worry about them for a while." He said cheerfully.

Then Arthur saw something that he missed while Merlin was approaching. Merlin was scared. Under that smile he was horribly frightened. Arthur remembered what he said to the army "_I just revealed my magic to the world, to Camelot, to _Arthur." Merlin wasn't just frightened, he was frightened of Arthur, and how he would treat him. This man, who even Arthur could see was an insanely powerful sorcerer, this man who was so much more then Arthur could ever imagined, was afraid of him. Not because he could do something to harm him (because as stated before, Arthur was almost certain his friend was impervious to death, though now he had the reason behind it.), but because Arthur might treat him differently, not as a friend.

So Arthur did the only thing he could do. He looked Merlin in the eyes and said. "You should have done that ages ago, idiot." Then he turned around, shouted a retreat to his army that were all still standing around in shock (barring Gwaine, who had always suspected. He was just laughing and drinking from the flask of ale he kept on him at all times), and started walking towards the castle, but not before he caught Merlin's brilliant smile that seemed to take up all of his face.

Merlin quickly started moving as to keep up with him. "Sorry, Sire, won't happen again."

"It better not."

Merlin glanced Arthur's calm face still a bit nervous now that his magic was out in the open. "Arthur," he said seriously. " Are you really alr-"

"I have the feeling you're about to say something completely idiotic regarding your magic _Mer_lin, and unless you want to be cleaning the stables I suggest you don't finish that sentence." Merlin quickly shut his mouth, but it was obvious he was still uncomfortable with Arthur's easy acceptance of his magic.

Arthur sighed, he had hoped that Merlin would be fine if he just said a comment with the word idiot and moved on. But obviously years of magical persecution had taken its toll on Merlin's trust level. Arthur was going to have to talk…about his feelings.

Arthur faced Merlin and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look Merlin, I saw what you did out there today. I would be some kind of…prat" Merlin smiled wryly, "if I didn't believe you were on my side." Merlin still didn't look particularly convinced. Arthur cursed mentally; he was going to have to say it. "And…you're my friend Merlin. You've always stood by me. I think that warrants a little trust in matters of magic."

Arthur quickly took his hand off Merlin's shoulder and resumed his trek towards the castle. Behind him he heard Merlin call, his voice a little strangled "Do you really mean that?"

Arthur turned to look behind him at the gangly figure. He looked Merlin in the eyes and gave a twitch that might have been a nod of confirmation. Then he raised his an eyebrow and said "Of course not idiot, now hurry up and draw me a bath. I'm tired and covered in blood." He might of said more after that but his eyes had focused on three cloaked figures behind Merlin, heading towards them.

Merlin turned around to see what Arthur was looking at. Upon spotting the figures he rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath "_Really?_" Then he raised his fingers to his throat and whispered a spell, his eyes flashing gold. Arthur jumped a little at the sight but quickly tried to cover it as a cough. This only succeeded in making Merlin stop what he was doing and look towards Arthur nervously, as if asking is this was okay. Arthur then raised his eyebrow as if to say "_go on idiot, I'm waiting_".

Having the confirmation he needed Merlin turned towards the figures coming at them, an annoyed face anointing his features once more. His voice boomed across the field towards them "Yes I am, in fact Emrys. Yes, Arthur is the Once and Future King. Yes, I am quite angry at you for trying to kill him. But I'm willing to forgive if you turn around right now and go back to your villages and never try to invade Camelot again."

Arthur watched with a rather bemused face as the cloaked figures seemed to lose their mystique and began to resemble scolded school boys. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of them hastily turning around. He looked to Merlin "What was that all about?"

Merlin rolled his eyes " They have all these prophecies about us. You're this mighty king that is supposed to unite all of Albion and I'm the most powerful warlock of all time." He looked towards the retreating figures with disdain "They say they're peaceful and willing to wait for the time of the prophecy to come about, but then some of them keep pulling stuff like that. Mordred's doing no doubt."

Arthur seemed to have stopped functioning at "unite all of Albion" so Merlin took his arm and started pulling Arthur towards the castle saying "I'll explain on the way." Merlin stopped one final time to glance at the cloaked figures. "_Druids."_ He muttered, then continued to pull Arthur along telling him of the marvelous things they were to do in this world.

It was a very long day for Arthur.

* * *

Did anyone catch the last bit with the Druids? Just curious. This speech is loosely inspired by _Merlin's Epic Speech _by The-White-Tiger-of-the-West. So you should check it out. Thanks for reading.

-Windy


	2. Spoilers

Wow thank you all for the response! I'm glad you liked it. Though I would like to clear up the fact that absolutely none of these chapter correlate. They're all a series of separate one-shots. I say this because there might eventually be seven chapters of Merlin revealing himself. This one is based off of River Song's favorite catch phrase. It's not as amazing as the last one of course but...I'm still fond of it. This takes place sometime in the distant future of Camelot when Arthur is quite used to Merlin's magic. Speaking of Arthur I can't spell his name at all. You don't know how many times I've typed Arhur in the last hour.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or Doctor Who ( Hey I remembered it this time!)

* * *

Arthur didn't bother to look up as his Court Sorcerer entered the room. He didn't need verification because there was only one man in the entire castle who still doesn't knock before entering his chambers. He heard Merlin practically collapse into the other chair.

"Long day?" Arthur asked not looking up from his absolutely _fascinating_ reports on agriculture. Merlin could tell he was rather miffed at him for not coming to see him at some point during the day. This always happened regardless of the fact that whenever Merlin did this it was because he was often doing something to save Arthur's life in some way or another. Merlin was beginning to suspect that Arthur was just worried about him.

"All I ask is that the future be a little bit more set in stone." Merlin moaned.

Now Arthur did look up, concern in his eyes. Merlin hated looking into the future. He hated the fact that he could never prevent what he saw. It also gave him killer headaches. Merlin often compared it to hangovers. Poor bloke, all of the consequences but without the fun of getting drunk. "You've been scrying in the crystals again?" Arthur asked trying to translate his concern into manly gruffness.

"Yesss" Merlin said, wincing. "Don't worry I'm never doing it again. Ever. Also could you manage to talk quieter? You're making it worse."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You always say that and then you do it again six months later." There was a brief silence. "Crystal or Cave?"

"…Cave."

"_Mer_lin, we have a perfectly good scrying crystal right here; why do have to go all the way to that blasted cave?"

Merlin covered his eyes. "You know why, its too easy to look away. And what's coming is major, Arthur. It's dangerous and I had to know as much as possible."

"Tell me."

"You know I can't Arthur. You'll just worry more and you've got a whole kingdom in the _present _ to fret over, let alone one in the future that might not even happen."

"Do you think it's not going to happen?" Arthur asked Merlin pointedly.

"Well…no, bu-" Merlin started

"Then tell me, idiot!"

Merlin sniffed. "If I was going to eventually tell you, I'm certainly not going to tell you now that you've resorted to petty name calling."

Arthur slammed his fist on the table in frustration, which he regretted immediately after seeing Merlin's hand fly to his head. "Sorry," Arthur whispered, then got louder as he continued. "It's just…frustrating. Time and time again I see you trot off to that twice cursed cave. And you always come back depressed and with a debilitating headache. And there's never anything I can do to _help_. I'm the bloody King of Camelot, I'm one of the most powerful men in the world, but when it comes to helping my friend I'm completely and utterly useless."

He threw himself into his chair, since at some point in his monologue he had risen and started pacing. " You do all this for me, you protect me, scry for me, idiotically try to die for me. Stop smirking Merlin, the rhyme wasn't intentional." For indeed Merlin had started smirking at the small accidental rhyme. "You do all this…but I do nothing in return. At least when I was under the impression you were just a servant, I thought I was protecting you for your loyalty. Now it turns out that you were protecting me.

"Our friendship just feels very one sided. I do all the taking and never give you anything in return." He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He hadn't meant to say all that, especially while Merlin had a headache. But this conversation had been a long time coming.

Merlin looked at Arthur for a long while before he said anything. " I didn't know you knew the word debilitating, that's a pretty big word for you Arthur."

Arthur glared weakly. He had just bared his soul to Merlin and this was his response? "That's really all you got out of that conversation?"

Merlin tiredly pulled himself out of his chair and ambled over to where Arthur was slouching in his chair. "Arthur, look at me." Arthur grudgingly moved his head til the warlock was in his line of sight. "You've done more for me than you could have imagined. You gave me a purpose for my magic. And look at this!" He gestured at everything and nothing, "Look at this kingdom you've made! You've freed magic. That's at least worth half of the times that I've protected you right there.

"I don't tell you about what I see because there is nothing you can do to prevent it. It would be senseless worrying on your part. I've learned my lesson about seeing the future and trying to change it, but you aren't. Plus it _is_ my job to worry about you."

"Well, its my job to worry about you then. I have a hundred people squabbling over me each day all worried about me keeling over. I don't see anyone trying to do that to you. No one ever seems to try to protect the protector. " Arthur muttered.

Merlin laughed and waved it off. "Don't be silly Arthur, half your knights are more loyal to me than you."

"That was supposed to make me feel better?"

"No, but it makes me feel better."

"Glad, I could help" Arthur answered dryly.

Merlin chuckled. "See you do help. Why do you think I come here after I scry? You always managed to distract me from worrying about something I can't do anything about…and my headache for that matter." He walked back to his chair and plopped down. For while there was a comfortable and companionable silence.

"Soo…Did you see anything good?" Arthur asked curiously.

Merlin looked pointedly at him. "Spoilers."

Arthur scoffed. "You think that it sounds so mysterious when you do that. It doesn't, by the way, it just sounds childish."

Merlin looked at him in an affronted manner. "Of course I'm being childish. There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin's antics.

" You have no sense of fun." Merlin muttered, before lifting his voice. "Regardless, you're not getting the future out of me if you keep insulting me like that."

"Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Not really, but anything for fairer treatment." Merlin flashed Arthur a grin as he stretched and got up. "I should be heading to bed, it's been a long day."

Arthur nodded his eyes drifting to the distasteful pile of paperwork he had to complete before bed.

"Oh, and Arthur?" said Merlin, peeking around the edge of the door. He had on a grin that, if Arthur had bothered to raise his head, would have had him worried.

"Hmm?"

"I _might_ I have seen something about Gwen being pregnant." He said this all very quickly, and was down the hallway with a hastily spoken "Goodnight sire!" over his shoulder before Arthur even had a chance to react.

Throughout the castle, the guards on night duty heard the echoed cry of "_Mer_lin!". They didn't do anything though, it was quite regular.

* * *

Does anyone else think it's strange that I got all this from one word? I'm rather horrid at making short one shots.

**Update**: Second Doctor Who Quote (childish one) is provided to me by a guest. So thanks for that. I have no clue which Doctor said it, only that it is one of the older ones.


	3. Curse That Kiss! Part 1

Sorry for a bit of a wait! See, first I was going to do a little insert based of the Lodger episode...but that kind of turned into it's own story. So yeah. But I wanted one where Merlin was just a servant, but not a battle scene so it took awhile to find an appropriate quote. Anyway this is from Vampires in (of?) Venice. I hope I didn't sacrifice the credibility of the story just to fit the quotes in there. Basically, for some reason I've decided to completely disrupt the night before Gwen's second wedding. It is a bit stupid that this all supposedly happens the night before and there is no mention of it in the morning. But hey I'm hardly credible.

Anyway this is a two parter...because I like cliffies basically. But before you think I'm actually capable of short updates wait till you see the next part. Goodness.

* * *

It was the night before Arthur's wedding to Gwen and he, along with the Knights of the Round Table and Merlin, was having a sort of medieval stag party in his chambers. Everyone was a bit tipsy, even Merlin. This was mostly because Gwaine kept subtly refilling his glass every time the young warlock would look away. The atmosphere was warm and cheery. Everyone was laughing and sharing their stories of the soon to be wed couple. This was causing a great deal of embarrassment for Arthur, but for once he was relaxed enough to just chuckle along with everyone instead of getting truly angry. Gwaine had just made a rather degrading comment about Arthur and Gwen's wedding night when it happened.

Arthur was in the middle of scolding Gwaine when Merlin's voice rang out loud and clear for the king and knights alike to hear "Gwen kissed me once." A great silence fell over the whole room as they stared at Merlin in abject horror. Merlin, oblivious due to alcohol, plowed on saying 'Tell you what though, you're a lucky man. She's a great kisser."

At this point Merlin acknowledged the looming silence. He looked around at the horror struck faces all staring at him. This seemed to sober him up a little. He quickly went over what he had said in his head, wondering if he had said something about his magic. Once he had figured out exactly what the condemning words that had just come out of his mouth were, he paled drastically and developed a sudden inability to look at anyone in the room.

This confirmed to all watching that this was not a drunken falsity but rather a terrible truth. All the knights felt a great deal of pity for Arthur. Arthur had already gone through this once with Lancelot. It was probably like some fiendish nightmare for him that it was happening again, but with his manservant. They were all a bit shocked that the loveable manservant would do something like this when he knew how much it would hurt Arthur. It was very out of character for someone they all knew was overly loyal to the King. That is why most of them believed there was a misunderstanding hidden in those painful words. They could only hope Arthur would be rational enough to hear him out.

Merlin felt the pressure of the eyes in the room looking at him, pleading for some sort of explanation. But the pair he wanted the most to see did not rest on him. Those eyes looked steadily up at the ceiling, unwilling to look at the servant. It was unclear to Merlin whether the King looked up at the ceiling to prevent himself from crying (which horrified Merlin) or because he did not want the manservant to look in his eyes lest he read the emotions that lay in them. Merlin also looked at the kings hands which were trembling. Merlin wondered if it was in grief or if he was suppressing the urge to punch him.

After a while Merlin cleared his throat. "Arthur," he said softly. "Please look at me."

Silence.

"Say something, anything, _please."_

Still the silence dragged on.

"Let me explain. It's not as it sounds."

Arthur finally snapped. His eyes, blazing with anger, locked on to the ones of his hapless servant. "Not as it sounds, not as it _sounds_! It _sounds_ _Mer_lin like you kissed my fiancé. Is that or is that not what happened?

"Yes. That is what happened." Merlin paused "Well, if you want to be technical about it _she_ kissed _me_."

Gwaine slapped his hand to his forehead. And they said _he_ was tactless.

For a moment Arthur's face crumpled and Merlin realized his mistake, internally he cursed the alcohol for loosening his tongue so. "But Arthur, you have to understand it was-"

It was in that moment that the door to Arthur's chamber slammed open and a small group of sorcerers charged in and knocked everyone out with a sleeping spell.

* * *

Anyway I'll try to get this out soon.I actually read through it this time before posting it! You should be happy. (I should be doing that all the time...certainly makes it more understandable.)

I have a question for you guys if you'll answer it: Do you think these stories could be read and enjoyed without knowing Doctor Who? I know it wouldn't be as funny...but I'd like to think it would be done well enough to be good regardless...

Also! I would love if you guys gave me some quotes, and not just from Doctor Who. I'd take anything, even quotes from real people. Interaction people! I want it. Have good day!

-Windy of the Defective Social Skills


	4. Curse That Kiss! Part 2

So I obviously didn't wait that long to upload the second part. I guess I like sharing more than I like common sense. Seeing as this is the same story it still comes from Vampires of (in?) Venice. And I knew I forgot something that last time! The freakin disclaimer. Bane of my existence that is. I always forget it exists.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or Doctor Who

There I have given my sacrifice to the copy right gods.

I also apologize for the amount of over reactions you are about to read. Arthur's really out of character here, but I'll blame that on the alcohol.

* * *

Previously on this crappy fanfic:

_It was in that moment that the door to Arthur's chamber slammed open and a small group of sorcerers charged in and knocked everyone out with a sleeping spell._

Currently on this crappy fanfic:

This spell was meant for non-magical people only. So naturally Merlin wasn't sleepy in the slightest, but he faked being asleep in the hopes of getting information on why they were here.

The sorcerer's were hardly quiet as they moved about the room, seeing as they had knocked out most, if not all of the guards, and where even chatting quietly as the picked up the King's body. Merlin quickly picked up on what they were planning.

Apparently the plan had been to kidnap the King while he was drunk from his party and then hold him for ransom, threatening to kill him if Camelot would not comply. Personally Merlin though the whole idea was idiotic. Why would you ransom someone right before a royal wedding? The treasury was bound to be rather low at the moment. Merlin was almost certain that the kingdom couldn't afford the ridiculous price the group was planning on asking.

And for that matter why would they kidnap the King instead of his fiancé? From their point of view Gwen would be a whole lot easier to abduct. Though Merlin wasn't going to begrudge them for making his job easier. If it was Gwen he might not have found out till morning and then she would have been much harder to find. Merlin figured it was probably some stupid form of revenge. And sure enough as they were exiting, Arthur's body in tow, Merlin heard them discussing ways to beat him up while they waited for the money. Well that wouldn't do. Merlin waited until he could barely hear them anymore before getting up and following them.

As he sneaked slowly behind the group, Merlin wondered if he should have defeated them on the spot rather than wait for them to drag his body to the forest. However it would have been rather hard to explain why all the sorcerers had just left. Plus, if rescuing Arthur in the forest and saving Camelot a lot of money, happened to get him partially back in the King's good graces after that idiotic comment, then Merlin certainly wasn't going to object.

X

Arthur awoke to find himself uncomfortably tied to a tree. Surprisingly this wasn't the first thing that confused him. What confused him more was why he felt so hurt. Then he remembered all that had transpired before his kidnapping, and he felt his heart break all over again. Once again, he had been betrayed by people he had put the utmost faith in. What scared him was the fact that he wasn't sure which betrayal hurt him more Merlin's or Guinevere's. On one hand he loved Guinevere greatly, but she had already broken his trust once so it was, perhaps, not as hurtful as one might imagine. But Merlin, he never would have suspected this of Merlin. The pure shock that his closest friend might do something like this to him pained him far more than he would have thought. Though there was the fact that it was she who had kissed him and not the other way around.

Merlin's drunken words kept echoing in his head: "_…you're a lucky man. She's a great kisser."_ Over and over Arthur heard those word's, those terrible words. His mind tortured him with image upon image of late night rendezvous' between his servant and Gwen. Yet the words Merlin had spoken right before the sorcerers had come infected him with some semblance of hope. "It was", he had said. It was what exactly? It was an accident, a mistake. It was because she was under a spell? It was because she was drunk all the time? All the possibilities swirled in his head, making Arthur unsure as to how much time passed.

Arthur thought the sorcerers might have explained the situation to him. He vaguely recalled the word "ransom". He also was aware that there was a sort of shift that made sure at least one sorcerer was guarding him at all times throughout the night. He thought they might have been mocking him though he couldn't have told you what they were saying. At one point a sorcerer threw a punch at his face. For one brief moment Arthur's mind cleared enough to be angry at the perpetrator for daring to hit the King. But he quickly let the anger go and sank into despair once more. The punch hurt far less than what was going on inside his heart.

X

Merlin watched with growing dismay as Arthur ignored taunt after taunt. This was not the Arthur he knew. The Arthur he knew was prideful and arrogant and would be giving these idiotic sorcerers the talking to of a lifetime. That Arthur was a king, who would be trying with all his might to escape. They hadn't even taken the knife from his boot, but still he did not attempt to flee. He just leaned listlessly against the tree, looking as if his world was falling apart right before his eyes. And it killed Merlin to know that this was all his fault. Merlin couldn't help but think that right now there was no King Arthur, there was only a man with a battered and broken heart.

Merlin had been planning on waiting till midnight right after the shift had changed before freeing Arthur. This plan swiftly changed as soon as the sorcerer punched Arthur. For one shining moment Merlin thought that the old Arthur was back. And just as quickly that hoped died as Arthur slumped back down. _That's it ._Merlin thought. _Enough is enough. I'm clearing this matter up right now once and for all!_" And with that Merlin stood walked over to the sorcerer and knocked him out with his own staff (he had idiotically put it down to punch Arthur). And if Merlin happened to step on any soft parts as he walked over to the tree to untie Arthur all the better.

It took Arthur a disturbingly long time to figure out that he was no longer tied to the tree. Merlin had to shake Arthur gently on the shoulder's calling his name softly before he would even look up at him. It took Arthur a few seconds before he recognized the face in front of him. As soon as he did, his fist flew up to punch Merlin in the jaw. Merlin tumbled backward in shock and landed on the ground with a soft thump. _'I guess I deserved that.'_ He thought, as he rubbed his jaw, not bothering to get up. He imagined that in a few moments-

Sure enough Arthur dragged him up by the collar of his shirt and just as quickly slammed him into the trunk of the tree he had been previously tied to. With anger and desperation in his eyes Arthur softly asked him the two word question that had plagued him since he had woken up. "What happened?"

Merlin desperately wanted to explain his innocence in all this. However he would prefer to do it several miles _away_ from the sorcerer's camp rather than right inside it where they could be easily recaptured. He decided to voice this particular thought to the clearly logically lacking Arthur. "Now? You want to do this _now?_

"I have a right to know Merlin, I'm getting married to her in the morning. Now, tell me what happened."

Merlin sighed, looked up at Arthur trying to convince him just how sorry he was. "It happened years ago, Arthur, when I was just starting out as your servant. I'd been there for less than 3 months. You barely knew who Gwen was beyond "Morgana's servant" and her name.

"It was when I was poisoned drinking from the goblet." The unspoken "for you" part of that sentence seemed to hang in the air between them. "We never did tell you just how close I came to dying that day. Right after I was administered the antidote, both my heart and my lungs stopped for a bit." Merlin chose to ignore the glare he was getting for withholding this information about his well being. "Needless to say I woke up a couple seconds later. And then she kissed me, it lasted at the most 4 seconds, and that's stretching it."

"That's quite a bit of time Merlin." Arthur said, still a bit cross. He had yet to remove Merlin from his place up against the tree

Merlin glared at him. "Look Arthur, she was frightened she'd thought I was dead. But I then I survived, so she kissed me."

"And you kissed her back."

"No, I kissed her on the mouth." Merlin said desperately wanting this conversation to be over.

"Funny." Arthur said, not sounding sincere in the least. "Never do it again."

"On my life, sire, I promise never to kiss Gwen ever again. I wouldn't dream of doing anything that would hurt you as this has. Not if it is within my power to prevent it." He added the last bit on thinking of the magic he was born with.

'What's that supposed to mean?" Arthur asked sharply as he finally released Merlin from his position against the tree.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Nothing, it meant nothing. I think of Gwen as a sister. Now can we please leave this blasted clearing already before we get caught?"

Arthur seemed to realize just how stupid he had been to have this conversation in the middle of an enemy camp. "I think we've dawdled here long enough _Mer_lin." He said as he quickly marched into the forest not even checking behind him to see if Merlin was following him.

Merlin just stood in a stunned silence for a couple of seconds before scrambling after his King, muttering "That _prat_" under his breath as he did so.

X

As they walked through the forest back to Camelot, Arthur began to feel rather foolish for how deeply he had over reacted to this situation. He should have let Merlin explain before getting so upset. After a while he cleared his throat awkwardly "Merlin-" he began.

"Don't Arthur." Merlin said, cutting him off before he could even get a sorry out (well not a real sorry. Most likely there would have been lots of words that _indicated_ sorriness, without particularly verifying it). "Yes, you over reacted, but after Lancelot you have every right to. This information was presented crudely and there was about a million better ways for me to have worded it. Funny, how you can say something in your head and it _sounds _fine…" Arthur shot a glare at him, and Merlin gave him a grin in return, before return to seriousness. "It's me who should be sorry for not telling you before now. But in all honesty it slipped mind, I haven't thought about it in years."

Arthur covertly looked at the incredible man that walked beside him. He was surprising both in his ability to read his emotion and thoughts, as well as his willingness to take the blame upon himself.

Merlin rolled his eyes, as he watched Arthur trying to sneak glances at him, as if he was some particularly confusing puzzle. "What kind of servant would I be, "Merlin said, startling Arthur from his contemplation, " if I didn't know you inside and out after serving you for six or so years?" More quietly he added, specifically not looking at Arthur. "And what kind of friend would I be if I could not forgive you?"

Warmth filled Arthur as he looked down at the young man who had become such an integral part of his life, that he couldn't quite remember what his life had been like before him. He opened his mouth believing it to be one of those rare moments where he could talk of his friendship (though it seemed too weak of a word, they were more like brothers than anything else), without his pride getting in the way. That was when they heard crashes and the sound of angry sorcerer's yelling.

Merlin sighed sensing that the moment had pasted and looked up at Arthur. "Run for your life?"

Arthur nodded "Run for your life." He agreed. With that both the king and his manservant took off through the forest. And if some trees far too young to fall for natural reasons became suddenly uprooted in the sorcerers' path…well Merlin didn't know anything about _that_.

X

Unnecessary Continuation of Story!

When Arthur and Merlin got back they found that everyone was still asleep. Instead of trying to wake them Merlin and Arthur decided they would just leave a memo for the guards on the king's door. Merlin prepared Arthur for bed and wrote the note, as quickly as possible. He also gave pillows to the knights, who were still passed out on the floor, before retiring to his own bed.

He thought back satisfactorily back to what he had done. Tomorrow morning when the guards frantically awakened from their spelled slumber (extended by Merlin himself lest they wake too soon) and rushed around looking for their King they would come upon this note nailed to his chamber door:

_Dear Guards and other people that have recently awakened from an enchanted sleep,_

_Please do not wake up the King before the_ _normal rising hour. He was up late last night being kidnapped. Not to worry though I (Merlin) rescued him and returned him safely. In thanks you will relieve me of my servant duties until shortly before the wedding. You must notify Gaius of this! Send George for any needs he has until then (breakfast and such. __Though you should remind George not to over feed him. He'll want to be able to wear his belt today!)._

_Sincerely,_

_Merlin_

_P.S. If you do not believe me feel free to check his chambers, but do so quietly! Also watch out for the knights. They all fell asleep on the floor and we found it unnecessary to move them. _

(Also in that same morning Gwaine would awaken to find himself in a lovely gown, that for some reason he wouldn't be able to remove for several hours. A not–so-subtle warning from Merlin that Gwaine should never get him drunk again.)

X

EXTRA UNNECESSARY STUFF I FIND AMUSING!

That next morning when Arthur awoke to George's face rather than Merlin's it took him all of six seconds to figure out what his manservant had done, and then rectify it (Showing true dedication to his manservant's needs Arthur himself went there to dump the pitcher of water on Merlin's head). Arthur's line of thought being "That if he had to be up despite being kidnapped the previous night, so would Merlin" (regardless of the fact that Merlin was in fact the rescuer and had not been kidnapped in the slightest.) A dripping Merlin complained loudly at Arthur's ungratefulness as Arthur walked with him back to his chambers, but there was an unspoken understanding between the two men. Arthur hadn't woken him up due to ungratefulness. Rather there was something George, as a servant, just could not provide. And if that thing happened to be friendship and emotional support, well, _neither _of them were going to say anything about that.

* * *

I am overly bromantic I know...I couldn't resist. I also really wanted Merlin to put Gwaine in a dress for some reason. I know the story could have ended I while back put it was fun to write all this silly nonsense. I also know I used that one phrase that while worded differently had the same annoying theme to it too much but...I don't really regret it. I like the phrase too much. Anyway hope this was a good rendition. All suggestion are welcome!

-Windy


	5. I Apologize for This Chapter CRACK

I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry for what you're about to read. I apologize. However the story would not leave me until I wrote it, and once I wrote I figured I might was well do something with it. I'm sorry to take my insanity out upon you nice people. There is too much stupidity for you to handle in this story feel free not to read it.

Got the quote from the Ends of Time part 2 (though you might notice some Rory dialogue there at the end.)

I would disclaim it, but I'm almost certain the network would not want to even claim association with the slaughtering I took to their characters.

* * *

Arthur and his knights had once again been ambushed by bandits as they were traveling home. And to be honest they were all getting kind of sick of it. How many groups of bandits camp out in Camelot's forest anyway? And for that matter why didn't they all form a bandit army instead of getting killed off because they keep attacking in small groups? Why didn't Uther lay off the killing of small, practically harmless magicians who just want to live in peace or help people, and instead focus on the hordes of people robbing murderers that lived in the forest? No one had any answers to these pretty valid questions. Instead Arthur, Leon and Merlin crouched behind a rock taking a breather as some generic knights and Gwaine fought off the bandits.

Just as they were about to get up a new horde of bandits swarmed into the clearing. All those hiding behind the rock raised their eyebrows. Was it possible that the bandits had actually developed a strategy? Arthur whistled "We might actually lose to them this time."

Merlin decided that now would be a good time for one of his sporadic rousing speeches. " There's and old earth saying, Arthur"

"What are you on about Merlin? This is the earth. And you can't get much older than medieval times!" (You could but Arthur never did listen to his tutors.)

Merlin glared. "Shut up Arthur I'm attempting to say something that will lift your spirits!" He paused. "Now where was I…Ah yes. There's an old earth saying Arthur. A phrase of great power and wisdom." Somewhere in the forest that orchestra that seemed to follow the group around struck up a stirring symphony in the background. "A consolation to the soul in times of need."

"What's that then?" Arthur asked, caring not a wit for dramatic timing.

"ALLONS-Y!" and with that strangely uttered phrase Merlin leapt up from behind the boulder and charged back into the fray. He left both Arthur and Leon staring wide eyed at his retreating form.

'T-That was a different language."

"Yes it was, Sire."

"That wasn't English. That was French."

"Yes it was, Sire."

"…What did he say Leon?" (As stated before Arthur wasn't the most dedicated student.)

"I believe he said "Let's go", Sire."

"But how-how would Merlin, a peasant, know French?"

"Maybe it's because we are shooting in France, Sire."

Arthur snapped out of his confused daze to glare at the knight. "What have I told you Leon, about breaking the fourth wall?"

Leon rolled his eyes. " None of this is being taken seriously Arthur. I mean if you look beyond the clearing you can see that Gauis has started a betting pool on just how many times you can conveniently get knocked unconscious within a season." Indeed jthey could both clearly see where Gauis was standing, surrounded by a horde of people that varied from Druids to Morgause all placing bets on Arthur's strategically timed "naps" as they were called.

"Leon, did you join the betting pool?"

"I have, Sire."

"And exactly how many times did you guess this would happen?"

"8 times, Sire." Leon replied, and Arthur looked relieved that at least this one knight had faith in his ability to stay awake for at least some period of time. That is, until Leon continued "Though that's onscreen only. If we consider that each season takes about a year, I'd guess that over the course of the year you're probably going to be conveniently knocked out at least 30 times."

Arthur looked outraged.

It was at this point Leon decided to return to the were several motivators behind this decision. The first and foremost was that it looked like Arthur was going to punch him any second now. The second reason being that he wanted to get out of this plot desperately. The third was that it was getting less and less credible that Merlin, a servant who supposedly had no means whatsoever of protection, and Gwaine were still alive when there only were about two generic knights left fighting, Leon flinched as he looked at the scene, make that one . Besides he was a Knight of the Round Table, he couldn't die! And supposing being a main character failed (he was thinking of poor Lancelot), well Leon was immortal, so it hardly mattered! And with that pleasant thought Leon charged into battle.

This left Arthur alone to sit behind his rock wondering why was it, that despite the fact Arthur was royalty, the Once and Future King destined to unite and rule all of Albion it was his useless, all powerful magical manservant Merlin who was the main character of the show.

Merlin, for the sake of the plot, chose this time to sit down beside Arthur and show his previously unknown power of reading minds. "It's probably my smile."

"No. It's not your smile, _Mer_lin." Merlin shrugged because either way he got a slightly bigger paycheck than Arthur.

"_Yeah_," Arthur thought in his head, "_it's the smile_."

Next to him Merlin laughed, and Arthur was cruelly reminded that Merlin had been given the power to read minds for the remainder of this story.

Arthur cursed.

* * *

*curls up into ball and dies of shame *

Please, feel free to pelt me with digital rotten fruit.

-Windy who as soon as she presses the submit button will begin to sing "Too Late to Apologize" inside her head.


	6. Arthur's Army Part 1

Sorry for the long wait! My life got suddenly hetic and I had to stop writing for a while. To make up for it I wrote this ghastly long one for you. Though really it's not that good, and it only has one quote in it even though I've divided it up into three parts. The quote is Doctor Who from Time of the Angels ( I think). Anyway since this is the only part with a quote in it I'm going to put a random quote in the Author's comments to make me feel better. Also on behalf of my sister, I will warn you that there is a lot of brutal insensitivity when it comes to mercenaries, on Arthur and Merlin's part.

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who or Merlin!

* * *

King Pellinore waited anxiously as he saw the red banners appear over the rise. His country was at war with some brute named Octavian, who happened to have enough money to hire an entire army of mercenaries; an army that was unfortunately, far larger than Octavian's. On the upside, he was an ally of Camelot and King Arthur had promised protection whenever he had need. But the sight of the red banners did not bring the relief that he expected, rather a furious anger. The unit that approached Camelot had no more than 500 men. Octavian had at least 2,000 maybe more (he suspected Octavian kept more, hidden out of sight). Even Pelinore had 1,000 men knocking about, and his was a farming nation. Camelot was supposed to be military capital of the world, but it barely had an army! They were outmatched by at least 500 soldiers, and that was with their combined units.

So naturally it was a very angry Pellinore that Arthur met when he finally arrived in the King's personal tent (Pellinore had refused to come out to greet him, he was much the petulant child that day).

Arthur looked down rather pompously at the grumpy King. "I don't know what I could have possibly done to you Pellinore, to warrant such cold behavior. But whatever is troubling I can assure you I played no part in it." To the young king's right there came a rather undignified snort, and Pellinore turned to look upon a tall gangly figure that had previously gone unnoticed. He had a pale complexion and scruffy black hair topped his head. He was dressed in servant like clothes (breeches, tunic, boots, and oddly a neckerchief), but they were too high quality to be believable…But his eyes were what struck the king. They were a stormy blue, which at the moment glittered with mirth, yet they seemed to hold such wisdom.

Arthur winced suddenly and glared at the man. "You know I don't like when you do that, _Mer_lin."

The mostly servant, or apparently Merlin, rolled his eyes. "It would be more useful if you would stop flinching every time I did it. You agreed to it."

"I agreed to it for practical purposes only. Using it to insult me is _not_ practical."

" I think it's very practical." Merlin replied grinning cheerfully. "Plus, I was saving you face, did you really want me to call you a prat in front of King Pellinore? Because I can if you really want me to."

He paused and than took on a players stance, looking as if he was narrating to an audience. But before he could say anything, Arthur interrupted him with a pointed glance and a quiet "Merlin, now isn't the time." Sometime between when Merlin had mentioned Pellinore's name and now Arthur's personality seemed to have shifted a little. Suddenly he wasn't a petulant man but rather a regal ruler. He had a sort of quiet dignity, which even Pellinore, as mad as he was, could admire.

Arthur turned towards the king and quietly said. " I apologize for getting carried away at such a time as this. Please, state your grievances my friend, and I'll see what I can do to solve them."

Pellinore, in all honesty had somewhat forgotten his "grievances" given the strange and confusing scene he had just witnessed but at the blonde's proposal all that anger he had lost came rushing back. "It is you Arthur Pendragon, who is my grievance. You promised me an army and I get a measly five hundred men! Even _I_ possess a bigger army than that. Can you honestly tell me that you believe your 500 and my 1,000 can beat Octavian's 2,000 men army?"

Arthur seemed to think on this. " If I recall correctly, you said that Octavian's army is comprised mainly of mercenaries, is that correct?" Pellinore nodded. "And you have 1,000 men?" He nodded again. "Then with my men I say we can easily beat them."

Pellinore looked confused.

"Look," Arthur said. "Mercenaries are fine for intimidation. You can get a lot of them and you look powerful instantly. But the problem with mercenaries is that they are only in it for the money. You kill the guy that pays them and they're gone. Mercenaries have no loyalty, they're scum. They don't care about what they're fighting for they fight to survive and for cash. Our armies, on the other hand, fight to protect. They fight for things that they love, things that are worth more to them to their lives.

"That," He paused, a smirk slipping onto his face. "That and my men are the best trained soldiers you will ever lay eyes on."

Pellinore raised his eyebrows impressed despite himself. "You're saying that your men are so good that you consider 500 a proper army?"

Arthur threw his head back and laughed, it was a long, rich and roaring laugh. "No of course not. My men are impressive, but they're not _that_ good. I didn't even bring my army. My army consists of 3,000 men and has better uses than this for their time. Those men outside are merely a reassurance in case what I promised you fails."

Pellinore spluttered. "What you promised me-What you promised me was an army! What you promised me was an easy victory and protection as long as I kept my part of the contract!"

Arthur sighed. "I promised you an easy victory Pellinore, and that will happen. I never promised you an army."

Pellinore looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel. "Never-"

"I promised you the _equivalent_ of an army. Pellinore, this is Merlin."

The lanky almost servant took a step forward, and bowed. "Merlin Emrys at your service, Sire."

Pellinore looked rather flabbergasted. "This is the all powerful Emrys, I've heard about?" He paused. "I expected him to be…" He gestured aimlessly.

Merlin made a face. "Everyone always says that they expect me to be older," He looked down at his clothes, "and dressed better for that matter." He sighed. "I just wish that people would realize that just as the tallest tree in the forest started out as a tiny sapling so must the powerful start out weak, or in my case young and gangly."

Arthur looked as if he'd heard that bit of wisdom once (or perhaps a thousand times) before. "That was very eloquent Merlin." He said not sounding sincere in the least. "Now you can go and set up my tent."

Merlin raised his eyebrows and in a dry voice asked. "Oh, can I? You'll allow me the honor of doing such a thing for you, Sire?" He sounded even less sincere than Arthur had.

Arthur just looked at him and slowly lifted a single eyebrow. "You can and you will _Mer_lin, now go."

Merlin seemed to give in to the king's request and stomped out of the tent, muttering darkly under his breath. He might of completed this grand gesture of displeasure, if he had not tripped over one of the ropes that was holding a tent up. Merlin landed on the ground with a small "omph". He quickly scrambled up but any sort of impression of power and wisdom he had made on Pellinore, who was now looking at him in a puzzled manner, had been lost. Merlin smile sheepishly at Arthur , and shrugged his shoulders in a "what can you do?" sort of way. Meanwhile Arthur had a look of exasperation on his face, and with his hand gestured that Merlin should get out before he made him look any worse.

Pellinore watched Merlin's swiftly retreating back, feeling very confused. "_That_ man," he asked, turning to Arthur. "Is the equivalent of an army?

Arthur grimaced and glanced at the chair. "May I?" he asked. Pelinore nodded and the young king slumped into the chair with a sigh. Suddenly, Pellinore was left feeling as if he was the younger king in this situation. The young man suddenly looked as if he had the weight of the world resting on his shoulders. He watched as Arthur massaged his temple tiredly, before looking up at Pellinore a small, wry smile on his face. "You wouldn't think so would you?" he looked fondly in the direction of where the man had gone. "But Merlin is…well, Merlin. He looks so simple sometimes, so insignificant. But that has to be the biggest lie in the universe. He's the most amazing and complex man I've ever met. It's not the magic that makes him so, amazing in the end. It's his loyalty, and his heart. He will go to the ends of the earth for those he loves. And if you gain such a place in his heart you must count yourself as blessed and do all that is in your power to make sure you deserve it. I know I don't."

Pellinore looked at Arthur curiously, his final statement too vague. "Deserve him that is." Arthur answered sadly while getting slowly to his feet. "I've wronged that man so many times, in so many ways…yet he's always been there. I truly don't deserve him. Best friend I ever had, or will for that matter." The last sentence was whispered as if it was some great secret, which Pellinore somewhat doubted if how they acted in his tent was how they acted in public; they looked like squabbling brothers.

Arthur seemed to snap out whatever nostalgic phase he had been in. "I know you have you doubts about tomorrow Pellinore, but trust me when I say this: Merlin won't let you down." And with that he swept out of Pellinore's tent.

* * *

Pellinore is a character from the Once and Future King I believe (Haven't read it in a year). Anyway I spelled his name terribly wrong for some reason. I hope you liked the first bit.


	7. Arthur's Army Part 2

My compatriots! Here is the next quoteless installment of my quote...thingy. I've no clue what to call it. Anyway hope you like it. Yadda, yadda, I'm not in the mood for this, yadda, yadda, Merlin isn't mine, blah, blah, Go figure. READ!

* * *

Previously:

_Arthur seemed to snap out whatever nostalgic phase he had been in. "I know you have you doubts about tomorrow Pellinore, but trust me when I say this: Merlin won't let you down." And with that he swept out of Pellinore's tent._

Currently:

And indeed Merlin did not let him down. The next morning dawned bright and early with a 2,500 men army facing them down. For Octavian had had men ferreted away in the woods. Pellinore and his army had anxiously gathered on their side of the field. He looked over to find that Arthur didn't even have most of his men. Just a about a hundred milled around. They weren't even in armor!

"What's the meaning of this?" Pellinore asked. "Why aren't your men ready?"

"I told you Pellinore, these men aren't my army and it would be a waste of time to put them in uniform. The only reason I brought them was to make sure I didn't look like an over confident fool. The men that showed up simply wanted to watch the show. _My_ army is over there." He pointed over to Merlin just in time for Pellinore to watch the man go sprawling into the dirt…again.

"Forgive me if that doesn't exactly inspire confidence within me." Pellinore responded dryly. He watched with a sort of worried amusement as the young king went over to Merlin to scold him. The worrying bit mostly came from the fact that the future of his kingdom was riding on that Arthur Pendragon and his sorcerer and neither of them seemed to be taking it seriously. Pellinore watched them start to chuckle and his anxiety grew.

But all to soon the battle was upon them and he and Octavian were meeting in the no man's land between the two armies. "King Pellinore," he said, "give me the throne or watch as I take your kingdom by force." He gave a loud grim chuckle, "Before I kill you anyway."

Pellinore was by no means a brave man, but he loved his kingdom and was willing to face even death to keep its inhabitants safe. So it was only with a slightly trembling voice that he said these words: "I will gladly give my life for the sake of my kingdom, Octavian. But one thing I will never allow is that you take my place."

Octavian sneered. "That is no longer up to you Pellinore." He spat. "But if you want you and your men to die needlessly for the sake of pride, than on your head be it."

He turned to march back to his side of the field when a voice interrupted him.

"Wait." And there was something in that one word that Pellinore couldn't describe in a million years. The voice wasn't loud or harsh or demanding, but it would have stopped a stampeding herd of deer let alone one man.

Slowly Octavian turned to look at the man who had dared to stop him. "And who are you?" he asked.

The man raised his chin a steely look in his eyes. "I am Merlin Emrys and I order you to surrender now in the name of Arthur Pendragon, the Once and Future King."

Octavian stared at Merlin stunned, for a second. Before he started to laugh uproariously. "What are you, a stick of a boy, going to do about stopping my entire army?"

Merlin did not acknowledge his disrespect and, in a tone that was completely devoid of the pleasant tone Pellinore had heard yesterday asked. "So you don't surrender then?"

Octavian stopped laughing abruptly and stared at Merlin in contempt. His lip curled in a sneer as he said. "Why would I? You can't possibly beat me, my army outmaches you, ten to one. You. Can't. Stop me." With that Octavian spun away and marched out across the field.

Merlin looked at the retreating figure and regret flashed across his face, then it hardened. He called out "You'll find Octavian, that that isn't the case at all." As he said this the sky darkened, thunder rumbled in the sky. Octavian froze. And Pellinore felt a chill go up his back. Then a lightning strike as thick as tree seared through the sky and hit Octavian. Everyone stared at the blackened ground where there had once been a living, breathing man.

Merlin raised his voice to address the whole army. "Your employer is dead and your business here is done. Go and I will pay you with your life." For second the whole world seemed to hold its breath, then lightning flashed in the distance and everyone ran. Merlin scowled after the retreating figures until, rather suddenly in Pellinore's opinion, he grinned mischievously. He then whispered something and his eyes flashed gold. As he did so every single man that was running fell to the ground, crying out.

Pellinore looked at him confused. "Did you kill them?"

Merlin seemed bemused, and quickly shook his head "No. I said I'd give them their lives didn't I? I just gave them something extra. Swicdóm tácn" he muttered

And there in his palm floated some sort of symbol. It was a strange thing, a ring that had been cut into four different sections. Attached to each section in the center was a black line that pointed outward, as if pulling the pieces further apart. In the center of the broken ring there was a small black dot. It looked nasty.

"What is that?" he asked in a morbid version of curiousity.

"It's the druid symbol for those who hold no honor, no loyalty." He smiled grimly down at the ugly thing. "And I just tattooed it on the forehead of every man that was fleeing. Now everyone will see them and distrust them. All who look at them will know that they would destroy lives for a bit of cash. It will mark them as the scum they are. Nothing will hide it, not dirt, it will shine through hair, and it cannot be gauged out."

Pellinore looked at the men, who were slowly getting to their feet, uneaslily. Pellinore was a bit of a pacifist so anything that might cause the want for revenge made him second-guess things. "Isn't that a bit harsh? You just ruined their livelihoods."

"No, nothing is too harsh for a man that can be bought." Merlin said, his tone filled with bleak condemnation. "I gave them their lives. They can't expect a kinder sentence from me. Besides, if they truly repent the deeds they did and learn true loyalty the mark will fade. Until then this group shall be known as the Faithless Army, and scorned by all who lay eyes upon them."

Pellinore stared at Merlin. "How can you know a thing like that?"

"Saw it in a vision once. Couldn't understand why I would do such a thing at the time, but now that I see the reasons behind my actions, I'm pretty proud of myself." He flashed Pellinore a grin and then slowly ambled towards King Arthur, who was looking at him with a smug "I told you so" grin.

Pellinore needed to sit down.

* * *

So that was that. Only one more part to go! Anyway I think after this I'm going to do an interesting epic quote. Because these are getting kind of dry. Or maybe I should just break up these stories so they stand by themselves, and make 'em a series...I don't know. So, below is a quote, because I feel like every chapter should have a quote in it one way or another. I've never actually read the book but I was browsing through quotes on loyalty and it was really fitting for the situation. I wanted to put it in before Merlin's "No, nothing" line but I couldn't without it sounding forced.

-Windy of the Blankets

(I don't know what I'm saying either)

**Quote:**

"I may be stupid, as you say, to believe in honour and friendship and loyalty without price. But these are virtues to be cherished, for without them we are no more than beasts roaming the land."- David Gemmal, _Shield of Thunder_


	8. Arthur's Army Part 3

Wow that was such a terrific response you guys. Thank you so much! I really have nothing to say but that and the fact that I don't own anything, besides you know strange old plot twists. But finally this is the last installment! Though I will probably bring Pellinore back just because I like him so much. He's so twitchy it's fun. ;D. Anyway hope you enjoy I have to go look up a quote for this chapter. Heh, shouldn't have put it off...

* * *

Previously on True Jackson VP:

_Until then this group shall be known as the Faithless Army, and scorned by all who lay eyes upon them."_

_Pellinore stared at Merlin. "How can you know a thing like that?"_

_"Saw it in a vision once. Couldn't understand why I would do such a thing at the time, but now that I see the reasons behind my actions, I'm pretty proud of myself." He flashed Pellinore a grin and then slowly ambled towards King Arthur, who was looking at him with a smug "I told you so" grin._

_Pellinore needed to sit down_.

Currently on the Fairly Odd Parents:

It was later that day and Arthur was getting ready to depart with his company (all 500 men completely unused and complaining about it), when Merlin pulled Pellinore aside to have a chat. This made Pellinore nervous. Ever since this morning's dramatic event he had become rather jumpy around the seemingly harmless almost servant. He had also become rather hesitant around Arthur as well, a man with that kind of power could destroy his kingdom in an instant.

Merlin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, when he noticed Pellinore twitch. But he smiled good humoredly and said "This is why I wanted to have this chat _yesterday_, before my 'magic show' as Arthur calls it. But of course the prat had to send me off because no one else could put up his majesty's tent."

Pellinore let out a laugh that sounded more like a choke.

Merlin looked him straight in the eyes. "I want you to understand something Pellinore. Yesterday was the exception not the rule. I know what you saw scared you. Rumors of the king with a powerful sorcerer is one thing, to seeing it is quite another. To think that Arthur not only has this vast military power, but a warlock with the ability to scare an entire army away as well. It's terrifying to imagine all that power in the hands of someone so young. But you have to believe me when I say that Arthur would never misuse it. Arthur would never send me out to beat down some army just because he wanted more land. He is just and fair. If you treat your kingdom and people well he will have no qualms with you. Though if you mistreat them I can't make promises, Arthur doesn't take kindly to cruelty.

"Above all Arthur has a strong sense of honor, especially the honor of battle. If it had been any other army I wouldn't have been allowed to fight at all. He thinks that magic is cheating unless the other side has magic as well. Arthur believes that it should be the swiftness of your sword, and the skill of the soldier that wins the battle. Not any of that 'magical trickery'." Merlin rolled his eyes good naturedly at this statement.

"He likes an even playing field even if it means putting himself at the disadvantage. The only reason I had a hand in it was because they were mercenaries rather than an army loyal to anyone." Merlin paused and his eyes suddenly leaked sincerity. "And I promise you Pellinore as long as you remain the good-hearted man you are today, Arthur will never lift a finger to you."

Despite himself, Pellinore found himself being calmed by the young man's words. He had a gentle sincerity in him which made it impossible to not trust him. He was strongly reminded of his talk with Arthur Pendragon (had it only happened last night?). He looked at Merlin. "You two are very alike, you know."

Merlin looked confused, but shrugged off the seemingly random comment. "Listen Pellinore, I'm telling you this for two reasons. One is so that you no longer shake like a leaf when one of us approaches." He smiled at Pellinore, as if to make up for the fact that he had insulted a king, which Pellinore got the impression he did quite frequently. "The other is because, regardless of his power, Arthur is just starting out and he needs someone to stand beside him, to support him."

Pellinore's raised his eyebrows and he asked dryly "I thought that job fell solely to you?"

Merlin smiled, glad to see the man mellowing out. "Hah. No I meant the support of royalty. They're trying to lessen him and make appear weak to his people. He needs someone to side with him that knows who he is and stands with him because of it. He needs an ally, a friend. Not someone who is terrified to get within several feet of him. Can you do that for me, your Majesty?" Merlin's eyes seem to pin him with the utter sincerity that he fulfill this wish for his king.

Pellinore nodded, sure of himself, the man before him and the king that he served. "I will try to upmost extent to support Arthur Pendragon as he adjusts to his place as King of Camelot." He looked over at Arthur who was mapping out the route with one of the soldiers. He had a look of concentration on his face and he seemed to radiate a sense of power. He was the picture of a strong ruler."Though I can't imagine he'll need it for very long. I figure I'll be calling on him more often than not."

Merlin broke out into a full grin, ecstatic that Pellinore was treating him, and Arthur normally again. "That may be Pellinore, but I can't thank you enough for-"

He suddenly cut off and then resumed in an obnoxious voice that was quite a bit louder than before. "-his socks smell absolutely terrible! I swear it's like he rubs them in dead animal or something! And he is absolutely the biggest _prat_ I've ever-Oh hello, Arthur we were just talking about you!"

Unbeknownst to Pellinore the young king had come up beside them. Arthur was now heavily scowling. "That is enough out of _you_, _Mer_lin. Come on. Daylight is fading and I'd like to see Guinevere by tomorrow." Arthur turned to Pellinore and his face softened into a smile. Behind his back Merlin rolled his eyes and made a motion with his hands that indicated he thought Arthur talked too much. Pellinore stifled a chuckle.

"It was my honor to meet and assist you King Pellinore." Arthur said. "I hope that we will see each other again soon." He held out his hand.

Pellinore nodded in agreement, taking the young man's hand and shaking it firmly. "I too hope that we meet again, though under more pleasant circumstances." He added with a chuckle. Arthur smiled, glad to see the king had relaxed around him. He had feeling it was Merlin's doing.

It was on that note that the King and his manservant departed from Pellinore's company and headed back home to Camelot. Pellinore watched them go a smile on his face. He couldn't think of a more suited pair to rule and to advise. They both had a sense of power about them, though each was completely different. There was Arthur with his sword, his bravery, and loyalty to his kingdom and those he loved. He was truly a leader to look up to, and to follow. And then there was Merlin with his magic, wisdom, and loyalty to those he loved. He would be a guiding light whenever the king was troubled. Yet they were most loyal to each other. He could see that they would both go to the ends of the earth, to help the other out.

Suddenly, Pellinore understood why Merlin and Arthur hated mercenaries so vehemently. To those two, whose lives revolved and were kept together by their loyalty to one another, to watch a man abandon the loyalty that should be earned, to the highest bidder. It must horrify them.

As Pellinore watched the last of Arthur's "army" (though he had lost sight of the real army quite a while back) disappear over the slight hill he couldn't help but think that with Arthur Pendragon and Merlin Emrys in his life, things were going to be _much_ more interesting.

* * *

True story bro I could not think of where to start the previously, that is why it is such a big chunk. Also sorry about the other show references I got bored. I'm also very unsatisfied with that 3rd to last paragraph. It was close to being really good but not quite...too repetitive I think. How come the word repetitive doesn't even have the word repeat in it?

SO yeah no love for the Mercenaries out of me. Also I displayed Arthur kind of weird when Merlin was talking about him. It was kind of presumptuous like: Arthur won't do anything to _your_ kingdom as long as your nice to them. But you mistreat one peasant! BAM! The kingdom's Arthur's now.

Anyway quote...uh give me a second. _Several hours later_ (not that you would know)...Found one! Actually two because one of them was ironic. There both pretty crappy and ill fitting but I figure that two crappy ill-fitting ones are almost as good as one perfect one.

**Quotes:**

"We are all in the same boat, in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty."  
― G.K. Chesterton

Meh. That one is acceptable I guess but it doesn't quite fit perfectly

_Heres the ironic one_:

"He sells his loyalties to the highest bidder. Shouldn't even a mercenary have morals? That's the textbook definition of a whore!" ― Nadia Scrieva

Okay I don't appreciate the curse word, but honestly, I had no idea this quote existed and that is pretty much exactly what I said, you know, without the hooker comparison...Well, _I_ thought it was funny anyway. But then again it is known that I amuse myself with plastic bags on snowy, windy days for at least an hour. I'm special like that.

Have a nice summer break if it's still lasting! (I'm approaching my last week * shudders *)

-Windy


	9. To Trap a Warlock, Isn't to Trap At All

Sorry 'bout the wait. I was putting it off till I finished another Merlin fanfic. But then it turned into a two parter and I gave up, waiting that is. You might see the other one floating around here sometime soon. Moving on from blatant self -advertising. I've decided to give you a good epic speech since the last couple have lacked if not lucidity then interest. Anyway this is from Time of the Angels once more in DW (which I still don't own). I hope you enjoy it.

_**SPOILERS**_ **_S4! _**

I decided instead of being completely original I was just going to adapt Agravaine's cave scene with Merlin. So if you haven't seen it don't read it! (episode 13 of Season 4)

IDOM

* * *

Merlin leaned against the cavern wall breathing heavily, listening for the sound of Agravaine and his men. He regretted what he was about to do. It was stupid, it was clumsy, it was exactly what Arthur had told him not to do, and worst of all it was going to cost lives. It was also the only way Arthur was going to get out of here alive. So Merlin squared his shoulders, screwed up his face and dashed out into the open.

"OH HELLO!" He shouted. Then- well then he ran. He could hear the clank of armor and Agravaine's shouts as he sprinted through the labyrinth of tunnels. Unfortunately, he sprinted straight into a dead end. Merlin sighed as saw it. It was a sigh of lament, a plea for some higher power to understand that he didn't want to do this, he just had to. Though he knew Agravaine would interpret the sound as defeat.

Even when he heard Agravaine and his men file into the room he did not turn around, not yet. He didn't want to see the faces of the men he would have to kill. He would let Agravaine have the first say, the first move, the first play. He would lead this game, and set the rules by which the played. Merlin didn't have to, he already knew how it was going to end and who was going to win. So he waited.

He didn't have to wait very long. "_Mer_lin, Merlin." Some vague part of Merlin couldn't help but notice that both Agravaine and Arthur pronounced his name the same way. It was strange how they still sounded so different. Slowly, Merlin turned to face the traitor, whom Arthur had trusted so.

"Where's Arthur?" Agravaine questioned with a quick nod of his head, as if this was some normal day and he was asking Merlin to lead him to the wine cellars rather than the nephew he betrayed.

Merlin was tempted to say nothing, for he would never betray Arthur. But he didn't want to do this so he gave Agravaine a warning, a chance to back down, to escape, to _live_. "Be careful." He said trying to press the sincerity, the truth, of that statement. He wanted so badly for Agravaine to believe him. He was tired, so tired of playing the monster, of killing. There had been too many deaths today and too many more to come. But, he knew that Agravaine wouldn't listen, he thought he was winning.

Merlin felt a bit of surprise as Agravaine looked nervously around the cavern, searching for an ambush. "What are you talking about?" Something in his tone must have gotten through to Agravaine. Unfortunately, upon seeing that he was the only there he resumed his line of questioning. "Where's Arthur?"

Merlin breathed out through his noise and looked at anything that wasn't Agravaine, trying not to snap at the fool who thought that he could get Merlin to betray Arthur.

"Tell me."

Another pause on his side. Another attempted delay at the inevitable.

"_Now_."

Still Merlin remained silent.

"Or I'll have to kill you."

Merlin wanted to laugh. Or cry. He wasn't quite sure. The Dorocha couldn't kill him, did Agravaine honestly think that he could? So Merlin, with the tone of someone rejecting an invitation to a party said, "I don't think so."

"No?" Agravaine asked his voice barely an incredulous whisper. He took a step foreword and Merlin tensed. Then, he seemed to change his mind and took a step back a smirk forming on his face. "I hate to point this out Merlin, but you are trapped. It is not particularly up to you whether or not you live or die."

Merlin relaxed as well, willing to play the game. After all, he was giving Arthur more time to escape. He shook his head in disagreement. "No. You've made your second mistake Agravaine."

"Second?" he sneered. "I wasn't aware I'd made a first."

Merlin glared. "Your first mistake was trying to get me to betray Arthur. When people ask me to betray Arthur it never ends well for them."

Agravaine rolled his eyes, probably getting tired of his supposedly unfounded ramiblings. "You're trapped, Merlin. And about to die. I don't see what you could possibly do to me."

Merlin pretended to think, but really he was gathering his anger. Because he was angry. He was angry at the world for making him kill again; so soon after his massacre with the dragon. But mostly, he was angry at Agravaine. Agravaine, who had trampled on Arthur's heart, when it was still just healing. Agravaine, who time after time, had hurt, and tricked, and tampered with _everyone_ Merlin loved. Merlin had been so tired that he'd forgotten his anger, and his hurt. Merlin had forgotten who exactly had caused this hurt, this pain. Well, Merlin wasn't tired anymore, and he certainly remembered who the culprit was.

"Yeah. Trapped. And you know what?" Merlin asked looking around as if he had just noticed where he was. Merlin put his bravado in place as he spoke again. " Speaking of traps this ones got a great big mistake in it. A great big whopping _mistake_."

Merlin said this sincerely, angrily and a little bit mockingly, but Agravaine did not seem believe him. This suited Merlin just fine. "What mistake, Merlin?"

"A big, big mistake. Really huge. Didn't anyone every tell you?" By this point Merlin's tone had grown surprisingly dark and he saw the first traces of fear appear in Agravaine's eyes. "There's one thing you never put in a trap—if you're smart, if you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow—there's one thing you never, _ever_ put in a trap."

As Merlin said this he watched with a satisfaction, that he would regret later when he had calmed down, as Agravaine and his men got more and more frightened of the slight servant that stood before him. Agravaine looked like he struggled to breathe, as he replied in a shaky tone that lacked all of his prior pomp and certainty. "And what would that be, Merlin?"

"Me." And then Merlin lifted his hand, his eye's flashed gold, and Agravaine along with his men where thrown back through the air, not comprehending what had happened until it was far too late to have done anything.

Then there was nothing.

And Merlin stood alone among his anger and regret, mourning the monster he had become for the sake of his king.

* * *

Yeah it kind of got away with me for a bit at the end. Little dark. I guess you can assume that after this Agravaine gets back up and resumes his line of questioning or you can just say Merlin killed them all on sight. It's your imagination whatever seems right. I hope this was worth your time.

-Windy ;D


	10. Blame it on the Bath

So admittedly I'm a _little_ disappointed that none of you guys deigned to comment on my last chapter. But nonethelss the obsessive fanfiction writer most continue to write, as they say (Oh wait, it's the show most go on...oh). Anyway I'm uber excited because this chapter the quote ISN'T FROM DOCTOR WHO! I'm branching out! It's actually from How To Train Your Dragon, which is fitting because it's my all time favorite movie of all time, at the moment. Or at least my favorite dreamworks movie. The characters are a little OOC. But I think they're still well done over all. But what do I know, that's up to you guys!

Disclaimer: IDOM or HTTYD

* * *

Arthur stared in shock at his servant.

He had just seen Merlin heating his bathwater with magic.

Merlin had magic. _Merlin, _his _manservant, _had magic. Arthur had no clue what he should do. He couldn't kill, or banish him (no doubt on his own Merlin would find some exquisitely awkward to get killed.). He probably couldn't even fire him, who knows how much trouble the idiot could get himself into now…

Arthur let out a groan as he realized exactly what this meant for his future. He could never let Merlin out of his sight again. A normal Merlin on his own found about a thousand ways to get in trouble just by _breathing_. A Merlin with magic…there was a million more ways that idiot could find a way to kill himself. A part of Arthur acknowledged, that with the ease that Merlin had used magic to get his bathwater to a boil (Merlin never could understand proper bath temperature), that he probably didn't need any protection. But he somehow couldn't disassociate the friendly bumbling hapless servant, from a sorcerer who could protect himself. To him, Merlin would always need help.

A thought occurred to Arthur: What was he doing _here,_ in _Camelot_ as kingdom renowned for its magic slaying. Did he just have this brilliant plan one day? Was he just like: "Oh I think I'll travel the world! Where's the first place a young magician like me should go? I know how about _Camelot_! That's sounds safe. After that I think I'll take a trip over to the Perilous Lands and have a chat with the Fisher King!" What a complete and utter _idiot_! It's a wonder he'd lived this long. Arthur made a promise then and there that he would never abandon this idiot who obviously had no sense of survival whatsoever.

He made this life altering decision just in time to hear Merlin start talking. While Arthur was having in-depth revelations about Merlin's need of protection from himself, Merlin had begun to hyperventilate. He had waited, head bowed and eyes scrunched closed, for Arthur to yell to scream. That never happened. There was just a deafening silence, interrupted occasionally by some noise from Arthur. It was eerie. As the silence dragged on, Merlin began to get more and more anxious until the barrier that prevented his mouth from saying what he was thinking in his head broke, and words spilled out, at frighteningly quick speed.

"I'm sorry, Arthur really, truly I am…Well, sort of-not really sorry." It was here that Arthur finally started listening. "You see I was born this way, with magic and such. I've been floating things around since before I could talk. There was even this one time where I set Mother's skirt on fir-I'm getting off topic. The point is I've had magic all my life and it doesn't make me evil or anything. It just makes me more powerful-er-ish than other people. See, Gauis always said that magic is sort of like a sword. It's how the wielder chooses to use it that makes it good or bad. I've always thought was a bit of a rubbish comparison myself." At this point Arthur was beginning to think that one of the properties that those born with magic possess was the ability to never have to draw a breath.

"Because it implies that magic can only be used for offense and defense, but that's not true at all! It's so more useful than that it can be used for healing things and growing things, and changing things and making light-but that's not the point or points, really. The points are is that I've had magic all my life, I'm not evil, magic is not evil, and that since I've arrived I've been using it to protect you." It was at this point that Merlin finally took a breath, much to the relief of Arthur, who was worried for Merlin's health as well as his mental state if Merlin didn't give him time to absorb all this information.

This state of relief was very brief. "So that's me in nutshell, yours and Camelot's secret magical protector of …protectiviness, so now will you please, _please_, just _say something already!_"

Unfortunately for Merlin's mental well being this speech had led Arthur to epiphany #2 of the day. Which meant he was about as responsive as a wall.

Surprising himself, Arthur was able to comprehend and agree with three out of four points that Merlin made. It was the last concept that really confused him. Thinking that Merlin was a somewhat capable sorcerer was difficult enough, but understanding the concept that it was Merlin who was protecting _him_. That hurt his pride on so many different levels. So it was a rather surely Arthur that said. "Prove it."

At first Merlin was so relieved that Arthur had finally responded, that he didn't comprehend what he was saying until several moments later. "What do you mean _prove_ it?" He asked cocking his head slightly.

"I mean _Mer_lin." Arthur said, "Prove it. How much simpler can it get? You say you're my magical protector, well prove it to me."

Merlin scratched his head looking at the ceiling, trying to think of a way he could show Arthur what he'd done. After a while he whispered something quietly his eyes flashing, and there in his hand was the globe that had guided Arthur through the cave so very long ago.

Arthur eyes widened. "That was you?"

Merlin nodded solemnly. "Yeah Arthur, that was me. It was also me who defeated Sigan, Nimueh, Morgause, the Sidhe formally known as Sophia, and both immortal armies. I'm kind of the most powerful Warlock that ever was or will be." He then took on more of a pleading tone, rather than the informative one he'd had before. "But please, Arthur don't treat me differently because of that. I'm powerful, yes, but I'm still first and foremost your friend."

Arthur was gob smacked. All this time he had thought he had done these things alone, but it had been Merlin. It'd always been Merlin, always would be Merlin he supposed. And to think that he had done all this without thanks or praise, the only gifts he received was more chores and a job well done, it was incredible. Merlin was incredible. Time and time again he must have watched Arthur get the praise for what he did. He'd never begrudged him, or resented him. The only thing Merlin had done was serve him with a smile and wait for the next danger to come. To think he'd had the most powerful human alive scrubbing his floors! Not to mention all the times he'd thrown objects at Merlin's head. It was humbling for Arthur to realize just how much he unknowingly relied on the man before him. It also awed him slightly that Merlin's biggest concern at the moment wasn't his life, but rather reassuring Arthur that he was the same man as before, his friend.

This is why it was unfortunate that Arthur could never treat Merlin the same again. Merlin was the same man, true. But suddenly there was so much _more _of him. Later on Arthur would choose to describe his feelings at the time like this:

It's like seeing a uniquely wonderful masterpiece that you're quite fond of, only to realize that most of the painting's been covered up. And at first it's so confusing to think that something you've thought to be perfect the way it is, is suddenly so much more than you imagined. You're disoriented, but then you look. You look at the masterpiece and you see it for all its worth, for the first time you see this painting in its entirety. And it's so different from what you had before, but yet it's just the same. You can see it's the same painting that you loved just…more. But can't ever appreciate it like you had before, because it's so much more amazing, wonderful, and awe-inspiring than you ever could of dreamed in a million years. To treat it the same would be lessening it in a way. And after all that you then proceed to get really angry because you've been cheated out seeing the whole masterpiece ever since you got it. (Even if you do understand that you might not have appreciated the rest of the painting at the time you got it, you're still pretty upset about being duped.)

So this is what Arthur felt as he stared at the tall, gangly man who was awkwardly fiddling with his hemline, waiting for his verdict. It was then Arthur decided something crucial: That it didn't really matter. Sure Merlin was suddenly this all-powerful wizard, and Arthur's personal guardian. But as far as Arthur could see he was still an awkward clumsy idiot who needed protecting, even if it was just from himself. And at the end of the day, Merlin was only one thing: his friend. And that's exactly how Arthur was going to treat him, no matter how powerful he was. This was particularly comforting because it means he could do this.

"This" happened to punching Merlin in the face. Because Arthur may have understood and accepted Merlin for what he was, but that by no means diminished any of the anger that he had gathered because of it.

Merlin was looking up at him from the floor, which he had fallen to due to Arthur's strong right hook, with a confused and hurt look on his face. He was also apparently irritated, having being lured into a false sense of security by Arthur's copious amounts of silence . "Ow! _Why_ would you _do _that?!"

Arthur looked down at him. "That's for the lies."

Suddenly, Merlin wasn't on the floor anymore but rather being enveloped in a brief hug by none other then Arthur Pendragon himself. Then he was gone and almost out the door before he turned to look at Merlin, a fond, if not oddly hesitant, look in his eyes. "That's…for everything else."

Then Arthur left, and a very confused, but rather touched, Merlin stood alone in Arthur's chambers, with nothing but a bathtub full of long cold water for company.

Of course, Merlin wasn't left alone very long. Nary a minute had passed before Arthur was lingering in the doorway once more a condescending look on his face. "Oh, and Merlin?"

"Yes, Sire?"

"Finish your chores." a pointed glance. "_Without_ magic. If you don't I'll have you on stable duty for a mon- never mind. You're already on stable duty for a month for lying to me. Do your chore's with magic and I'll have you in the stocks all week."

And then Arthur left, again leaving a slightly more irritated Merlin alone once more with the bathtub. He glared at it. "For the record, this is entirely you're fault."

Then he started cleaning, muttering under his breath about idiotic ill-timed glances from idiotic prat-like princes.

* * *

I hope I didn't make that hug scene too gay. I really try to keep a distinctive line there.

Also did anyone else find it funny that the first quote Arthur does is a girl? He and Astrid are actually really alike...  
So are Merlin and Hiccup for that matter (SPECIAL DRAGON CONNECTION!)

Hope you enjoyed!

-Windy Conqueror of Stuffed Seals and Atlantis


	11. The Matter of Trust

You know, every time I write a new one of these I say that this time, _this_ time, it's going to be a short one. This has yet to happen. I am incapable of writing anything under a 1,000 words. Anyway this is my last update before school starts. :,C And after this it's going to get a _whole _lot more sporadic. Because you know, schoolwork. Also I'm taking AP English, Chem, and Pre-calc. And on top of all that I'm lazy, so I wouldn't expect much. Though I will _try_ honestly, I will. Because I have so many fantastic idea's floating around my head to leave it alone too long (hopefully).

Anyway basically I don't own Merlin or Harry Potter (that's right finally an HP quote! After my profile page you kind of expect it).

Enjoy!

* * *

To be perfectly frank, it was an off day for Arthur.

Was it because Merlin was actually on time today so Arthur got less sleep than usual?

This was likely.

Was it because halfway through his alone time with Guinevere he'd been called out on a very important mission?

That probably had something to do with it.

Or was it because why they were journeying Merlin had dropped half their supplies into a mud pit, completely spoiling them?

This was definitely part of it.

But largely it had to do with the fact that he was being slowly strangled by a sentient plant.

He probably should have seen it coming. After all that was why he was out here in the first place, looking for the blasted thing. So _of course_ he would end up falling in the hole that it was dwelling in. That was worded wrong. Of course he would fall in an attempt to prevent _Merlin_, who in his usual clumsy fashion practically walked into the hole, from falling in.

_Well_, Arthur thought,_ never doing _that_ again_. Though he didn't know if this was because he decided Merlin no longer deserved this privilege or because he would be dead at the point "next time" rolled around.

Initially, Arthur had been rather pleased to discover that he hadn't fallen to his death and instead landed on this rather convenient plant. That was until Merlin pointed out (in an amusingly hysteric tone despite the circumstance) that the plant was slowly binding him up.

Arthur struggled in vain against the vice-like grip that plant had on him. He really didn't know why he had bothered saving the worthless idiot in the first place, it wasn't as if he couldn't have-

But Arthur's internal rant was cut off by the idiot in question "Stop moving! I know what this-I remember Gauis telling me about it-it's a Devil's Snare!"

"Oh I'm so glad you know what it's called, that's a _great_ help," Arthur snarled as he tried to stop the plant from curling round his waist.

"Shut up you prat," Merlin shouted down to him. "I'm trying to remember how to kill it!"

"Well hurry up then, I can't breathe!" Arthur wheezed, as the plant had worked its way up his chest at this point.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare…" Merlin muttered. "What did Gauis say? It likes the dark and the damp-"

And suddenly, Arthur knew the answer. He had spent countless childhood afternoons listening to Gauis chatter on about the wonderful world of herblore. He remembered this one in particular because it was quite violent and thus utterly fascinating to him as a child. At the time he had thought it mere fantasy that Gauis made up to amuse him but now- "So light a fire!" Arthur managed to choke out.

Merlin smacked his fist into his hand. "Yes-of course!" Merlin cried out. "But there's no wood!"

Arthur spluttered indignantly. No wood! He was keeping up the pretense at a time like this! He could feel the vine winding it's way around his neck, but despite that he was impressed with the sheer volume of his admonishment. "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Arthur bellowed. "ARE YOU A SORCERER OR NOT?"

For a moment Merlin looked utterly shocked "You knew…" he trailed off pathetically. Then he seemed to locate his senses. "Right then," he muttered rolling up his sleeves as the world around Arthur began to darken. He vaguely recalled hearing some nonsense word and seeing a flash of gold before he felt the darkness consume him. As it did so he quietly vowed that if he ever woke up again he was going to kill that magic-loving idiot.

X

In fact, Arthur did wake up, much to his relief. He woke up to Merlin's anxious face hovering over him, which was less of a relief and more of an annoyance.

However, as soon as soon as Merlin realized that he was fine it lost all semblance of caring and switched to a very _different_ emotion. "You _knew?"_ Merlin shouted at him. "All this time you _knew?_"

Arthur ignored him. "I don't think you have the right to be angry in this situation _Mer_lin. _I'm_ the one who almost died because of _your_ stupidity."

"I would have done something once you passed out from lack of oxygen." Merlin huffed angrily.

"I wasn't talking about that bit of stupidity. I was referring to your horrible sense of balance."

"Oh." Merlin said something that might have been remorse fleeted across his face, before anger replace it. "But still, you _knew-_"

Arthur groaned and rolled his eyes. "Of course I knew you idiot! You're not exactly subtle are you? With all the random tree branches and random flying spears you toss about! Do you know that all those who camp in the forests around Camelot think it's haunted by a particularly violent, but helpful spirit?"

Merlin had the sense to look ashamed.

"Of _course_ you don't _Mer_lin!" Arthur went on. "You think if you duck behind a tree or crouch behind rock that suddenly no one will notice if your eyes light up! Do you know how many knights of Camelot have come to me reporting what they saw? How many times I've had to convince them it was a trick of the light if they were staunch magic haters or explain to them exactly what you do if they're loyal to me? I honestly do not understand how you've managed to make it to your current age! Your mother must have been living a nightmare trying to raise you!

Merlin looked like he'd been hit repeatedly over the head with his own magic.

"How do I know that you were born with magic? Or that your Emrys? Or that I'm called the Once and Future King? Or even how you have magic in the first place?" Merlin was still unable to move due to shock, but Arthur plowed regardless, the mocking tone never leaving his voice. "It was probably around the time of the Witchfinder accused you of sorcery that I began to get suspicious. I mean really? Smoke horses? How stupid are you exactly? I can see the obituary now: "Merlin the man who manages to evade getting caught countless times, even after fully admitting to sorcery, hangs for making pretty pictures in smoke!" I interviewed that woman after the whole fiasco had blown over. And let me tell you she'd, never seen the man till that day in the throne room. There was no way he could have put those drops in her eyes.

"So I started following you around a bit, because after all wasn't suspicious that you'd been accused once again? Once again, after openly admitting to being a sorcerer that day in the council room. So I followed you around a bit. And what should I find but you having a lovely chat with the dragon? You were so busy complaining to it about your magic that you didn't even hear me." He said this bit rather spitefully, in a way that indicated he'd wanted to say this to Merlin for a long time.

Merlin at this point looked completely aghast.

Arthur paused here, as if he didn't quite know what to say next. Eventually he found his voice. "But-but you were my fri-manservant, so I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt. I went down and talked to the dragon. And he told me what he knew about the prophecy, about your magic, about what you've done, and so on. He told me everything_._ And I mean _everything_." Arthur muttered bitterly. "He even told me the circumstances of my birth."

Merlin looked distraught. "But Morgause, when she showed you-you were so _angry_."

At his words, Arthur let out a snort. "It's one thing to hear it from a dragon. It's quite another to hear from the lips of your own dead mother. It kindled some of my original anger."

Merlin interrupted skeptically, "That was a lot more than _some_ anger Arthur, you were trying to kill your own father!"

"Your right _Mer_lin," Arthur said in the first somewhat pleasant (if not completely demeaning) tone Merlin had heard since Arthur had started talking. "It _was _a lot of unwarranted anger if someone already knew prior." He paused, looking a bit shamefaced. "I was testing you."

"You were _what?_" Merlin asked, outrage heavy in his voice.

Arthur sighed. "Merlin you have to understand, the first time I heard any of this I didn't want a shred of it to be true. It would mean my father had lied to me all my life, _hundreds_ of innocent people had died, and that I was supposed to bring back the very thing I had spent my entire life trying to destroy. I was so-so _confused_ and most of all _angry_. Not to mention that a trapped magical creature was telling me all this, so forgive me if I was a bit skeptical at first."

He shook his head. "I was so upset, I just marched right of that cave. For weeks I skulked about, mulling over all things I'd been told. Part of me wanted to confront you or father or Gauis. But in the end I figured it was something I had to decide by myself. For the first time I really looked at magic. I researched it. I observed those who we came into contact with that possessed it. And most of all, I looked at you."

He looked at Merlin, with an intense gleam in his eye. "Do you know what I found?"

Merlin shook his head numbly.

"I found out that magic was nothing I'd been taught to think it was. When closely examined all those things I'd taken for truth no longer made sense. Suddenly all those irregularities, in lines of thought regarding magic, made sense. So I went down to Kilgarrah, and we just talked for hours. And he told me in depth, about the history of magic, and the prophecy and about all the things you'd done for me. And at the end of our talk I made him swear that he wouldn't tell you that I knew."

Merlin gaped at him and for the first time since Arthur had started explaining himself, anger sneaking back into his tone. "Why would you do that Arthur? Why would you deliberately-"

Arthur cut him off. "Because _Mer_lin, because the prophecy made me question exactly how loyal you were to _me_ and how loyal you were to the _prophecy._ I began to wonder how genuine our-" He cleared his throat awkwardly as he searched for the proper substitute for friendship. "…companionship truly was."

Merlin mentally snorted at the word "companionship", as if saying companion instead of friend would formalize their bond any.

"So when Morgause came and told me, and essentially you, about my birth, it was the perfect opportunity. I was going to pretend to try kill my father to see how you would react. If you were there out of mere duty to the prophecy, it wouldn't be a bad thing for me to kill my father and assume the throne. It could only be seen as good thing actually. Since you would also be getting revenge on Uther.

"But if you were my friend, then you would…" Arthur shrugged his shoulders, a sort of dazed happy confusion spread across his face, as he remembered the details. "I guess I really didn't know what'd you do. I couldn't really blame you if you let him die after all he's done to you. But I guess a part of me hoped…I don't know that you'd object a little? But what you did…" He looked Merlin with a sort of awed expression, that made Merlin squirm a little "…was the most amazing and self-sacrificing thing I'd ever seen. You literally lied about your own kind rather than see me hurt my father. It was then that I began to trust you fully."

Merlin shook his head. "Then why didn't you tell me _then?_ Why did you have to go and say that crap about never trusting magic?"

Arthur looked sheepish. "Because I was upset."

Merlin looked at him, eyes blazing. "Up_set! _You just said I went above and beyond what you expected of me. That I earned your trust. What about that situation warrants offense?"

"That's exactly it." Arthur snapped. "You earned _my_ trust, but I certainly hadn't earned yours. That day was the perfect opportunity to tell me you had magic. I trusted magic far more than my father. In fact, I was openly defending those who used it. But you didn't tell me, you lied to me again. And no matter how self-sacrificing of an act that was it still _hurt_. It hurt to think you'd rather I believe all magic is evil, then simply tell me you possessed it.

"So I hope that answers you question about why I never told you." Arthur said somberly. "I was waiting for your trust Merlin. Only it never came, did it?"

Merlin opened his mouth, to say something, anything to convince him that he did trust him…Just, not with _that_. But before he could utter a single syllable, several of the knights that had been with them on this quest burst into the area where they both stood. Anything Merlin had been going to say was lost amidst the cries of "So glad we found you safe, Sire!" and "Thank goodness you're alright!" Anything he would say had to wait till they got back.

X

On the way home the knights noticed that the usually lively and prattling servant, was quieter and more morose than usual; his regular grin was absent from his face. In fact they'd never seen him like this. When they asked the servant himself what was the matter he gave a small (and very fake for that matter) smile and muttered that he was "fine". And when the prince was questioned about the disheartened appearance of his manservant, the most they got out of him was the most oddly unworried response they'd ever heard from him when it came in to Merlin.

"I believe," Arthur said, looking over to where the servant was tending the fire with a mournful look on his face. "That he is coming to understand the matter of trust."

* * *

So in other news I totally meant to stop after Merlin got Arthur out of the hole. I'm really bad at shorts. Super terrible. Horrendous.

Well I hope you have a nice return to school. I know I won't particularly. But if you're in the mood for some uplifting perspective go to the Vlogbrother's channel on YouTube and watch the video titled: An Open Letter to Students Returning to School.

DFTBA!


	12. The Look

My gosh. This is the shortest drabble I've ever produced. It's also the most boring and sub-par thing I've produced. So sorry about that. School is kind of stifling my creative process. Also I wrote this in about an hour so don't expect too much. Also school is to be blamed for the lack of updating recently ,lack of creativity and lack of humor in this following drabble.

IDOM or Sherlock

* * *

Arthur watched distastefully as, once more, he kicked out-ahem, politely dismissed George from cleaning his chambers. It had been a sad day for Arthur when he realized that now Merlin was Court Sorcerer he would no longer be his servant. That initial sadness had turned absolutely despondent when he realized who his replacement was. And the worse thing was he couldn't get rid of the man. On what charges do you dismiss a man who does everything ten times better than a normal person? And as of lately George had been present more then ever in his chambers and was even attempting the "familial approach" to get Arthur to like him better (hey it worked for Merlin). This meant brass jokes. Lots and lots of brass jokes.

Arthur groaned in annoyance sinking into his chair while Merlin, who was surely smirking, looked on. "Honestly Merlin, that's the third time I've caught him polishing that candlestick _today_." Arthur ranted on. "How many times can a man polish a _candlestick? _ It's a bloody _candlestick_, for crying out loud! How much attention could it possibly _need_?"

Arthur resisted banging his head on the table as he much as he sorely wanted to, (there were only so many brass jokes a man could take) and instead turned to Merlin. "Are you positively _sure_ you don't want your servant job back?" he wheedled. "Because I'd be more than happy to-"

Arthur cut himself off because there upon Merlin's face was an arrangement of facial muscles that Arthur positively loathed. As he had correctly guessed Merlin was smirking. But it was so much worse than that. Merlin was wearing what Arthur like to call The Look.

It was at this point where Arthur decided to kill two birds with one stone. He would simultaneously run off his pent up George anger while expressing his dislike for this particular facial expression. "Don't do that." Arthur ordered grumpily (on someone who was not a king it might have been petulant).

"Do what?" Merlin asked tilting his head to the side curiously, his smirk growing larger due to Arthur's apparent annoyance at him (it wasn't a good day unless he caused Arthur to throw a fit in some shape or form).

"The _Look_." Arthur said his annoyance growing more pronounced on his face and in his tone.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, beginning to get rather annoyed himself (After all, he didn't even know what he was doing wrong). "The…_Look_?"

"You're doing the Look again." Arthur explained, frustrated that Merlin didn't even have a general idea what he was talking about.

Merlin rolled his eyes, that was hardly an explanation. "I can't see it, can I?" He strolled over and peered into Arthur's mirror, scrutinizing his features "It's my face?" He questioned, curiosity leaking into his tone.

Arthur nodded grumpily. "Yes, and it's doing a thing. You're doing a 'We both know what's really going on here' face."

Merlin turned around to face him, both eyebrows raised in slight disbelief. "Well we do."

"No." Arthur huffed. "I don't. Which is why I find the face so annoying."

Merlin let out a faint chuckle. "You can't tell me you honestly don't know what going on here."

Arthur shook his head angrily. "No, actually, I don't. So I would be obliged if you would just tell me already!"

Merlin just stared at Arthur incredulously for a bit. Finally he said, as if it was the most obvious and important piece of information in the world. "The head of the servants is retiring next week!"

"So?"

"_So?!_" Merlin exclaimed, amazed that Arthur could be so thick. "_So_ Arthur, the man wants a promotion and is trying to butter you up so he can land the job!"

Arthur, comprehension dawning on his face, shook his head in disbelief. "And he thought that never giving me peace and cracking brass jokes would somehow get him this?" He asked derisively. " IIf there's one thing for certain, he's not getting that promotion now!"

Then Arthur began to quietly grumble under his breath, complaining about never being alone, and not being able to fire someone who did everything perfectly, all while Merlin stared at Arthur, eyebrows raised, like he was an idiot. He also seemed to be waiting for Arthur to realize something.

"Ooohhh…"

X

Which is how George got his job as Head of Servants in the Castle of Camelot.

* * *

Told you it sucked. Anyway hope you didn't fall asleep reading this. Fun fact this was originally going to be about Arthur hearing Camelot's problems and one guy kept coming back because he had a crush on Guinevere. And only Merlin knew this. Unfortunately for you you guys George wrote easier. I feel like I used the same vocab words too many times in this one. Anyway hope you like the quote if not the fic that surrounded it!

-Windy who is not particularly awake at the moment...


	13. The Physician's Beginning Part 1

Oh my gosh. Why did I think this was a good idea? *buries head in the dirt* Why did I do that to myself? What made me think I could write him? OH THE HUMANITY. That's right people. For some reason beyond my comprehension I decided writing a young Uther and Gauis friendship fic was a good idea. WHY DID I THINK THAT?! *shudders* Good Gog! I feel like I've written a crap Arthur/Merlin fic and replaced there name and occupation. *begins to rock back and forth* Never again. Oh, it's like a poorly portrayed mess of crap! NEVER AGAIN! *regains composure* Anyway hope you like the quote. It's...actually that quotes not in here. Nevermind, there is another very craftily place quote in here though so I hope you enjoy _that_ quote.

IDOM or HP

* * *

Uther sat at his desk going over this years ledgers. Well, that might be stretching it. What Uther was actually doing was staring out his window and wondering how he ever thought being a King would be exciting. He remembered the fierce terror and sadness he had experienced when he had come home after his battle against Vortigern's son Paschent, only to find his brother Ambrosias dead, killed by an assassin. But underneath it all, there had pulsed a subdued excitement he was _king_, he had _power._ Several months later and he was beginning to consider using necromancy to raise his brother rather than stay on the throne any longer. The only thing that prevented him from doing this was love for his brother and the fact that as a king it would kill his reputation to be seen with anyone practicing dark magic.

It wasn't that he didn't like taking care of Camelot and its inhabitants. It was just he preferred to do it in a way that didn't involve him signing laws and looking at ledgers. He missed the days when he had been a somewhat dispensable prince, able to go wherever he wanted, and whenever. Now his days were filled with councilmen and paperwork. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to go hunting. The most exciting thing he'd done all week was border patrol! If he had to read over one more mandate that needed to be approved he was going to-

"Sire!" cried the guard nervously, bursting through the door. "We're under siege!"

"What?!" Uther exclaimed, shocked.

"The castle, My Liege." The soldier said "It is under attack."

"You're serious?" He asked skeptically, it coincided far too well with his desire to leave the paperwork.

The guard nodded earnestly.

"Of all the luck!" Uther muttered, cursing as he went over to his wardrobe to get his armor.

The horrible thing, Uther thought as he rushed to put on his armor, is that I don't know whether I'm being serious or not.

X.

Uther sighed contentedly. The siege had turned out to be fairly easy to defeat, thanks to his superior marksmen. But it had lasted long enough to give him an excuse not to return to his ledgers for the rest of the day.

Just then he heard a knock on the chamber " Sire, we've rounded up all those who have surrendered, what should we do with them?"

Uther stretched and sauntered slowly out of his room. "Take them to the throne room, I'll judge them there."

"As you wish, sire." The guard said before exiting.

X

Ten minutes later Uther found himself staring distastefully at the crowd of deserters in his throne room. He never knew what to do with them. To kill them after surrendering is simply cruel. But to simply let them go home seemed weak. Perhaps he would just hold them in the dungeons for a few days…

"Excuse me." Uther's head snapped towards the voice. In all Uther's days as King, even prince, he had never heard that tone addressed to him by anyone but his brother. It was almost _annoyed_. As if the owner was upset at _him_, The king! And he was showing it!

The speaker was a man dressed in a simply cotton tunic with brown breeches and boots. He was tall and awkward looking. His face, framed by wavy chestnut colored hair that came to his chin, was long and haggard looking as if it had been stretched. At the moment he had a terse look on his face that it almost looked like he was sucking on a lemon.

"Who are you to speak such a tone with-" Uther yelled

"I am Physician." He said with authority. "And that man" he pointed to one of the soldiers that seemed to be shaking severely. "Is going to die of blood loss if you don't allow me to help him this _instant_. So if you'll pardon me I'm going to provide him the help that _you_ denied him."

For the first time Uther noticed the hefty awkward bag that this sour faced man carried with him. He watched in stunned disbelief as the physician set to work on the young man before him. He couldn't believe this, he _could not believe this_. The audacity that man had, to waltz right in here, despite being a prisoner of war, and just ignore his authority.

Enraged Uther stood up. "Arrest this man at once!" let it be a lesson to him, Uther thought viciously, that this man died because he would no allow me his respect. But to Uther's utter dismay without even looking up from his patient, the tall physcian uttered a phrase and his eyes flashed gold as he threw back the guards that tried to arrest him.

"I thought you were a physician!" Uther cried out angrily. "Now, apparently you're a sorcerer? Which is it?"

"I'm both." The man answered tersely as he sewed up the man's wound. "Now hush, this is delicate work." Uther found himself slightly intrigued, despite himself, by the man's nerve, that he would be able to tell a king to "hush", but he quickly cut off that train of thought. No need to be impressed by a man who had so gravely insulted him. A man who would be arrested as soon as he finished sewing the man up.

After what seemed like an unendurable amount of time where Uther had to watch his authority being flouted, the physician finally got up. Handing the wounded man a bottle he heard the physician say "This is a blood-replenishing potion drink this twice a day for 3 days and you'll be as good as new.

"Now," He said turning to the guards. "I believe you were about to unjustly arrest me for doing my job." He held out his hands willingly (though he refused to let go of his medicine bag). "By all means go ahead." The physician watched with a wry sort of smile as the guards, shaking slightly, shackled him and led him out of the room.

Uther slumped into his throne. This was the most insulting and trying man he had ever had the displeasure of meeting. He didn't quite know how long he sat there contemplating the physician, but he did remember when he finally was forced to think on other matters. Uther was roused from his stupor by the same nervous guard from this morning "Uh, Your Majesty?" he squeaked, "What do you want to do with the people that surrendered?"

Uther stared at the mass of tired people uncomprehendingly. He'd almost completely forgotten the whole reason he was there in the first place. He started to open his mouth to order them to be kept in the holding cells, but the reproachful glare of the obstinate physician flashed before his eyes, and with a sigh Uther closed his mouth. "Just-" he grimaced "Just let them stay in any available rooms we have for the night, and if they want to leave immediately by all means let them go. But each and everyone of them must be escorted outside the city with the promise of death if they return. And they're all out of here by dawn. Got it?"

Uther strode towards the door. He could already feel the headache forming from the reevaluation of his moral decisions. Still, the mental image of dour man would not fade till, begrudgingly Uther turned around to face his stunned guardsmen "And if that pesky physician hasn't gotten to them already, take the injured to the infirmary and have them fixed up."

And with that Uther whirled out the room and headed straight for his bed chambers. Uther decided the only way to conclude this trialing day was to go to bed and promptly forget everything that had occurred. He was tired anyway. Having his authority disregarded so publicly was exhausting and if he thought of that physician one more time he was going to throw him in the stocks!

At least sleep wouldn't be problem.

X

Uther could not sleep.

How long he had tried, he didn't know. All he knew was that he couldn't get the events that had taken place in the throne room out of his head. The disrespect of the physician bothered him deeply. Why exactly didn't the man honor him? Or was it the circumstances at hand that caused his displeasure toward him? Did the physician think he was a bad king? And why in the world did he care?

Uther tossed to the right pulling the sheet tighter to his body. He scrunched his eyes closed willing himself to think of anything, _anything_, but that blasted physician.

This lasted all of two seconds.

With a guttural growl Uther threw back his sheets, put on his robe, and stompingly made his way towards the dungeons.

X

When he got there Uther was shocked out of his peevishness momentarily, before it came back tenfold, by the sight of his dungeon guards. Or should he say, dungeon loafers. He knew guarding a dungeon is boring to say the least, but they could try to be a bit more attentive when there was an actual prisoner! Perhaps the physician is friends with a high priest or priestess? He was a magician after all. Serves them right if they're completely caught off guard and killed instantly. They weren't even playing dice! They were just _sleeping_. A small child could easily sneak past them. Heck, a tiger could probably sneak past them! The bunch of numskulls.

_But could you sneak past them?_ The idea whispered in the back of Uther's mind, filling him with a long forgotten childish glee. It would be fantastic to go and have his talk with the physician and then exit without anyone knowing the wiser. Then, the next day, he could drop a comment and watch them figure out that their king had walked in and out of the dungeon while they snored-But he couldn't. These were the actions of a foolish prince, not a respected _king_. As a king it was his duty to inform his staff of their misconduct and make sure they heeded him. To do something so _silly_ as to sneak past his own guards, he would lose their respect.

So with a long-suffering sigh Uther cleared his throat. He watched gleefully behind his stoic mask, as the guards jumped up and then blushed upon realizing who exactly had caught them napping.

He raised a single eyebrow as they stuttered out apologies. "See to it that you don't do it again." He said and then walked on towards the dungeons, he could almost hear the sighs of relief at getting off so easy. Not for long, Uther thought to himself maliciously . "And a months dungeon duty to teach you to keep constant vigilance." He smirked to himself when he heard one groan under his breath. That'll teach 'em.

When he finally arrived at the physician's cell, he was shocked to see that the man was asleep. In reference to the time of night it wasn't all that surprising (Uther's internal clock told him it was about 2 in the morning). However, the guards waking up had caused quite a ruckus, and he distinctly recalled one of the guards spears dropping rather loudly to the ground. Nor had they done anything to muffle their conversation. By all means the physician should be peering curiously through his bars at this point. Or at least, you know…be somewhat conscious.

However Uther would be lying if he said he didn't get some small enjoyment out of banging the bars to wake him up.

That is til he didn't wake up. The only response Uther elicited from the physician with _that_ maneuver was get him to get him to shift in his sleep a little.

Uther upped his ante a little banging on the bars and shouted "Physician!"

A small groan and a snore was given to him for his efforts.

Fantastic, a physician who could probably sleep through a herd of stampeding horses. Losing his patience Uther called out. "Guard! Fetch me the key's to this cell at once!" Uther watched impatiently as a harried guard hurriedly flipped through the key ring has he shuffled over to the king.

"Here you go Sire." He said, handing him the keys before beating a hasty retreat.

Uther swiftly inserted keys into the cell door and walked over to the slumbering man. He shook the man roughly. "Wake up, physician. Blast it, wake up!"

He heard a sigh from the figure and watched with satisfaction as the physician cumbersomely rose into a sitting position. He turned to stare at Uther with tired and yet distinctly chilling eyes. He obviously was displeased with the disturbance.

"Gauis." The man said frankly.

"What?" Uther asked, a confused expression on his face.

"Gauis." Said the man. "My name is Gauis. Use it. Calling me "physician" is getting tiring. Now what is it that you had to ask me that was so important and vital that it couldn't wait till morning?"

Uther took a step away, taken a back by the man's knowledge. "How did you know I'm here to ask you a question?" He asked suspiciously.

Gauis rolled his eyes. " Why _else_ would you be here? Anything that has to do with my sentencing can wait til morning. Curiosity on the other hand, is rather insatiable."

Uther cleared his throat nervously, determinedly not looking at Gauis . "Do you respect me?"

Gauis raised one brow, in a rather devastating manner. Uther thought in that moment, that one eyebrow raise from Gauis could convey entire sentences. All with the same message of "you're an idiot."

"Why in the world, would you want to know something like that?"

"Because-" Uther cut himself off. How was he to explain the inexplicable desire to have this man like him? Respect him? He didn't even know why himself. "Just answer the question." Uther said tersely

"To be honest?" Gauis said. "No I don't, but I don't care about titles. Respect is earned in my opinion. And from what I've seen of you so far, you've done nothing to deserve it."

Despite the likely negative answer he was going to get Uther asked . "And what have you seen?"

"I highly doubt you want the truthful answer to that question." Gauis said dryly.

Uther tried an eyebrow raise of his own.

He felt as if it was vastly underrated in comparison to Gauis'.

The man sighed but answered the question. "I've seen a man who has yet to learn the concept of mercy. A man that cares more about his reputation as a king than doing the right thing. I see a man who thinks only about his wants and desires, that takes no consideration for others. I see a king the people fear and respect but do not love. And most of all I see a child who has yet to find out what he wants in life; one who is far too afraid to seek it, should he discover it."

Uther stared, stunned. He should have been angry, he should have shouted and raged against the audacious man. But he couldn't find it within him. He'd used all the indignant anger he had against this man. He couldn't muster anymore, not now. Not today anyway. So instead Uther stared. Was Gauis right? He had yet to be wrong, Uther supposed.

Finally, after a long, delicate silence, Uther said the only thing that came to mind. "I gave those who surrendered shelter for the night."

Gauis looked up at him, surprise flitting across his face. " That's a start." He said slowly, as if this news had not startled him, however slightly it might have been.

And for the first time Uther, thought he did something that shocked the physician. This thought brought him a strange amount of pleasure. Uther watched as Gauis layed back down. "Goodnight, Sire."

Apparently, Uther thought as he walked out of the cell, he was being dismissed.

But as Uther walked the long corridors he couldn't find it in himself to be offended. In fact, he was rather happy.

Maybe it was because for the first time, Gauis addressed him with an honorific.

Or maybe, it was because as Gauis layed back down he could have sworn he saw the physician's lips tug upward in the beginnings of a smile.

As Uther lay in bed he had one final thought as he drifted off.

It was a little of both.

* * *

Okay so I honestly want to know how I did with this. I feel like I didn't get Uther or Gauis right. They feel like cheap facsimiles of Arthur and Merlin.I really want to know what you think these two.

Also in regards to me responding to your reviews, I'll be without internet for a couple days (school thing). I won't be able to respond till Friday evening.

Tell me what you think!

-Windy of the Fenceposts (that's for you carinims01!)


	14. The Physician's Beginning Part 2

I'm back! And I bring you a new chapter! YAY! By the way this document is like 12 and half pages long...ugh. _Anyway_ thank you for all the lovely responses I appreciate them very much. I really can't think of anything to say beyond "I hope you like it!" And I hope you think the quote is fitting...I might have just jammed it in there (though this is the quote that this whole fic is based on...I hope it fits)

IDOM or Sherlock

* * *

"Sire, sire!"

Uther woke with a start. There in front his face was that same nervous guard from yesterday, he seemed to have been assigned the post of 'bearer of bad news to the king' No wonder he was nervous. "What is it?"

"The prisoner has escaped."

As Uther hurried out of bed he felt his heart, unwillingly, begin to sink. Of course he escaped. He was a magical physician, how could he expect him to stay? Why _would_ he expect him to stay? Uther had treated him with only disdain and ridicule during his stay. And curse it, why did he care so much?!

It was with that question that Uther finally began to feel the anger he should have felt from the beginning. He may have no right as a man to keep him here (he was just a physician after all), but as a king, Gauis was an escaped prisoner (though he wasn't completely sure annoying the king was a cause of imprisonment he'd look into it…), and that allowed him to do the one thing he wanted most, capture Gauis and take out his hurt feelings on him via the stocks (murdering someone because they rejected his…acknowledgement was a bit much, even for his most wildest fits of rage).

Not that, as a king, he would _have_ hurt feelings over a mere _physician._

"How long has he been out and how far away has he gotten? Has he breached the city walls? And for that matter why aren't the alarm bells ringing?" Uther demanded harshly.

The nervous guard looked like he was about pass out.

Unwittingly, what Gauis had said the night before floated to the front of his mind "_I see a king the people fear and respect but do not love."_ And Uther sighed slowly and tried to soften his tone. Somewhat. He was still the king. "Just explain to me what you know."

"We-ell, he escaped about 10 minutes ago." The guard stuttered out.

Uther's face lit up. "That's fantastic news, he can't have gotten far at all! Do you know where he is?"

"He's in the infirmary, Sire."

"What?" Uther stopped mid stride to stare, dumbfounded, at the guard beside him.

His incredulous stare must of broken guard in some way because before he knew it, the guard was talking at a break neck speed. "Well, you see. We were changing shifts and I was talking about how my brother had gotten himself injured during the siege and how it seemed unlikely he was going to make it." The guard paused here to gulp. "And suddenly the door to his cell comes flying open, and just strides out, but before he leaves he walks over to me and he told me to tell you…" He paused, his whole face displaying the hesitancy he had for telling him _exactly_ what the physician had said.

"Just tell me already." Uther said impatiently

"He told me to tell you that he said: ' I don't care about the sense of accomplishment you get from keeping me in the dungeons. I'll not laze about while lives could be saved. If you want to arrest me when I'm done, then do it. But do not try to prevent me from doing my job Uther. It won't end well. But if you must express your displeasure at my actions then come to the infirmary yourself, I'm quite proficient at multi-tasking.'

"And we followed him all the way there, Sire. And when he didn't appear to be escaping, I came here to inform you at once. That's also why we didn't ring the alarm bell we weren't sure it counted as an escape unless he actually…tried to escape."

"Is that all?" Uther asked wryly

The guard blushed. "Ac-actually, when we observed him at that infirmary he told us that 'waiting here any longer isn't going to make Uther, less angry when he hears,'"

Uther shocked himself by how little of what Gauis had said effected him. In fact, he found himself rather eager to hold conversation with the physician. He dismissed the guard with a wave of his hand and slowly made his way to the infirmary.

X

Uther opened the door to the infirmary and sat down in one of the available chairs.

Gauis raised his eyebrow. "I thought you would be angrier." He said as he wrapped a bandage around an injured man's arm.

Uther shrugged. "So did I. I guess I figured your completely unreasonable when it comes to being a physician. It would be useless to prevent you from doing this."

"Quite." Was all Gauis said before moving on to the next person.

They didn't talk much really. They just sat in companionable silence, which Uther occasionally broke to ask what he was doing with this or that spell. It was one of the most enjoyable times Uther had had since he had become king. There was something very precious about the silence that was between them. It was almost a form of communication within itself. It seemed to speak volumes for the happenstance that can bring about friendship. But all too soon it had to return to his paperwork and councilmen, which resulted in Gauis being returned to his cell.

X

This went on for several months. Uther would arrest Gauis, and as soon as he heard of a medical emergency Gauis would break out. And then he and Uther would sit together while Gaius healed and Uther did paperwork. More often than not Uther would occasionally break Gauis out himself when he was in need of advice (no one knew why he didn't just invite Gauis as a guest, but one must assume it was part of their unique way of bonding) Eventually Uther gave him a room in a tower that nobody seemed to be using that was supposedly for "prisoners of an extended stay". Soon after people started bring medical requests to the tower, and Gauis began to amass books and healing herbs there.

On one particular trip up to Gauis's room Uther saw that a sign for Court Phyisican had been hung outside Gauis' room. This only confirmed to Uther that now was the perfect time to pose his question.

"Gaius," Uther said as he walked in, "Did you know there's a sign outside the Prisoner's of an Extended Stay Wing that says "Court Physician"?"

Gauis looked up, eyes twinkling warmly, from some concoction he was brewing (He knew Gauis had probably told him what it was sometime or another but the names never seemed to stick in his head.) to answer him. "I did Sire. I wonder what gave them that idea?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." Uther said amicably as he sat down. Then he paused, seriously contemplating something. "Do I even still have a Court Phyiscian?" He questioned.

"Currently, you have Sir Olwen, but his eyesight is going and he hasn't been seen the infirmary since shortly after I moved into the tower. But as of yet, he has not officially retired."

"Really." Uther said and he allowed a silence to fall, while he thought of a new way to approach the subject, seeing as he already had a physician. After a while he finally said "You're a phyisican. In fact, you're an army physician."

Gauis raised his eyebrows. "In a manner of speaking. I go where I'm needed and more often than not that place is the battlefield."

"Any good?" Uther asked as he casually examined a weird rabbit mask that he was confused as to how it came into Gauis' possession in the first place.

Gauis looked rather affronted (after all Uther had seen him perform medical feats that he had later described as " miraculous"), and he responded tersely "Very good."

"Seen a lot of injuries then. Voilent deaths."

Now Gauis simply looked confused. "Well. Yes."

"Bit of trouble too I bet." Uther said slyly.

It was at this point were Gauis finally grasped what was going on here, and with mirth in his eyes he answered, a bit more verbosely than usual. "Of course. Yes. Enough for a lifetime. Far too much."

Uther raised his eyebrow. "Would you like to see some more?"

Gauis broke out into a full-fledged smile, which to Uther, held the promise of mischievousness, good advice, and long days spent in one another's company. "Oh god yes."

A pause.

"Was that, by any chance, you asking me to be your Court Physician?" Gauis asked.

"I believe it was." Uther said, a smile adorning his face.

"You already have a Court Physician." Gauis pointed out skeptically, one brow raised making his point far better than his mouth.

"Well he's going to retire soon, isn't he?"

"So what will I do until then?"

"Well," Uther said leaning back in concentration. "It seems to me as if you have two options. You can either continue on as you are being an unofficial physician while being my prisoner. Or you can become my Court Advisor, and still be an unofficial physician."

Gauis raised his other brow.

"It's not as if you aren't going to be doing it for me anyway." Uther pointed out.

"True." Gauis conceded, thinking hard. "If I become your Court Advisor, I can't promise I'll always say things you want to hear."

"I can't always promise to listen." Uther said blithely.

Gauis raised his eyebrow skeptically. "Isn't the whole point of having an advisor to heed their advice?"

Uther shrugged, saying, "I'm the king" as if that answered everything.

Gauis nodded, though his concession was ruined by the fact that his eyebrow was still raised.

"So that's a yes then on being Court Advisor till the physician position is open." Uther asked, feeling a bit nervous despite himself.

Gauis nodded, most of his attention focused on his potion, as he carefully measured a murky liquid into it.

"You know, I thought me hiring you would be a bit more monumentous than this." Uther said.

Gauis looked up smiling wryly. "I'm not a very monumentous person."

Uther let out a sound that he might of called a snort had he not been a king. "I'll try to remember that the next time you're blowing back my guards with your magic."

"That implies your going to be arresting me again." Gauis pointed out.

"That's true." Uther agreed, and then he let out a light laugh "You never know, I just might."

"Somehow I don't find that very amusing."

"That's because you're a stick in the mud." Uther retorted.

"I'd rather be a stick in the mud than full of myself." Gauis said pointedly, not looking up from his brew.

"Why-!" Uther started than stopped, shaking his head. He got to his feet "I need to get going, got a council meeting about water regulations, or something equally tedious." He made a face. "Regardless, congratulations on your new position in court."

Gauis glanced toward the king. " It'd be more appropriate to congratulate yourself Sire, seeing as you were the one who gave it to me."

Uther paused outside Gauis' door, not turning around he said. "Ah, but you accepted, which deserves congratulations in and of itself, and…thanks, accepting that position deserves gratitude as well. Thank you, my…friend." With that awkwardly uttered sentence he swept out of the physician's chamber.

And Gauis smiled to himself as his mixture stewed, thinking of the absurdities that life held, that allowed one to go from a King's prisoner to his closest friend in a matter of months.

* * *

Was the ending too rushed? I felt like it was a little rushed. But there was no way I was showing all those months.

And to explain the whole trouble quote...I've always imagined that physicians that live in court would see far more troubling things and exotic wounds, then say...a country one. So I thought it made sense. It sounds kind of awkward though. Gauis really isn't like Watson, he's very open with his emotions. Hope I didn't butcher this ending. And stay tuned because there is going to be a BONUS SCENE. Because I'm a nerd like that.

Also did anyone acknowledge the character I archived from the first episode?

-Windy


	15. The Physician's Beginning: BONUS SCENE

I don't really know why I made this a separate chapter. I guess I just wanted to. This doesn't have a quote because it's a bonus scene and if it had a quote it would no longer be a bonus scene. Though it's pretty much just as relevant as if it was a new prompt...oh well.

IDOM

BONUS SCENE!

* * *

"And that," Uther said, staring down at the beaming blue-eyed and blonde haired boy "Is how Gauis got his position as Court Physician."

'Wow," Arthur breathed his eyes shining with glee, and his legs fidgeting excitedly under the covers. "So you forgave him and let him live even though he had magic?"

Initially, Uther had been hesitant when his son had asked for the story of how he and Gauis had become friends as a bedtime story (especially seeing as how they weren't half as close as they used to be since he passed his laws). However, it was worth the trouble of twisting the story to fit it with his anti-magic laws to see the joyful look on his son's face. "Some people," He said slowly, "Are worth second chances."

"I want a friend like that." Arthur said as he flopped back onto his pillows.

Uther raised an eyebrow, his son's casual joy was infecting his usually guarded attitude. "Someone who used to practice magic?"

"No!" came Arthur's outraged cry, a look of disgust on his face that was similar to the one he sported when girls where mentioned in his vicinity. (Making Uther somewhat proud) "No, I meant someone who loves me enough to change for me, and…" Arthur trailed off thoughtfully "Someone who I can trust to do what's best for me and for others. Someone who I care enough about to change for them too." He nodded assertively, as if he had made some great decision. "That's the kind of friend I want."

Uther's usual retort of "King's have no friends" teetered of the tip of his tongue, however he could not bring himself to ruin his son's ecstatic happiness. So for once he let it slide. "Go to sleep Arthur." The King said softly. And he watched, with love in his eyes, as the prince snuggled into his bed.

Uther blew out the candle that lit the room, shrouding it in darkness. "Goodnight Arthur." Uther said as he leaned over to gently kissed his drowsy son's forehead. And as he pulled away he whispered quietly "I hope you find that friend."

The moonlight that was streaming through the window seemed to cast a heavenly glow on the child and light up the small smile that still remained on the young prince's face, even as he dreamed. Uther smiled, and then turned and walked from the room. As he left he couldn't help but allow a small part of him to wish too, that Arthur would find such a friend.

And somewhere out there, in that dark and shining night, a pair of cobalt blue eyes fluttered open for the very first time.

* * *

What does this prove? That I literally can't go without a bit of bromance per drabble. So sad...but so good. It's kind of poorly written but I hope the sentiment was there.

Hope you liked it!

-Windy who is addicted to Merlin and Arthur bromance


	16. Gwaine Offers Merlin a Job

I am so dreadfully sorry for the long delay. Part of it was that I am lazy. I was working on a different story. And all the stories I wanted to work on for _this_ fic were double parters and I don't like doing those too close in a row. I'm also sorry that this story isn't particularly worth the wait. You can tell that it was written over long periods of time. Anyway hope you enjoy this minimally. Helpful comment are welcome.

IDOM or Psych

* * *

The doors to the prince's chamber slammed open with a mighty bang and Gwaine bounded in an insanely gleeful look upon his face "Merlin!" he sang out "I have a job for you!"

Merlin, who had been cleaning the floor prior to the interruption, looked up a grimace on his face. He had been expecting this. Winter had not treated Camelot kindly, the occupants of the castle had been snowed in for several days. During this time Gwaine had run out of alcohol, and on top of that he getting a little stir crazy. It was only a matter of time till he cracked.

"I already _have_ a job." Merlin replied calmly as he resumed his floor cleaning. He hoped that his lack of interest would deter the slightly unstable man. "And so do you for that matter."

Gwaine tilted his head. "So you're not interested in hearing about doing the thing we've been dreaming about doing since we were eight? I've got us the last job we will ever need, mate." He said enthusiastically

Merlin stared at him incredulously. "Gwaine, I never knew you when I was eight, let alone discussed dream jobs."

Gwaine waved off this information as if it didn't indicate his mental health was precariously placed (though admittedly with Gwaine there was a good chance his mental health was never safe) "So you're telling me that you have no higher career goals in life then being the Princess' servant?"

Merlin winced. "Well...no, not really." He neglected to mention that his career goal was a little higher then what Gwaine had planned, and in the most desirable outcome had to do with something that was currently illegal in Camelot.

Gwaine clapped his hands together. "Perfect! Come with me." He started for the door, until he noticed that Merlin wasn't moving. "What?"

Merlin shook his head and continued to determinedly scrub the same (now perfectly clean) patch of floor he had been scrubbing since Gwaine had entered. "No. I'm never doing anything blindly with you again. I learned that at the Mercian Border. Twice."

Gwaine huffed, but relented and told Merlin everything.

And surprisingly…he agreed.

X

As Merlin strode through the hallways with Gwaine he brought up the inevitable. "Why exactly am I the lovely assistant for your magic show again? Why couldn't Gwen do it?"

"Well I asked Gwen first-no offense mate, but she is far more beautiful than you." Gwaine said looking at Merlin imploringly. Merlin raised his hands in the universal sign for none taken. "But she turned me down. She said it would be a bad way to go about being the new queen if she partook in a magic show, when all magic is strictly forbidden. She was the one who recommended you. Said you'd be the only one crazy enough, and the only who'd be willing to risk Arthur's wrath enough to do this."

Merlin conceded that this point was true.

"Also she said, and I quote her directly here, that 'Merlin is lovely enough to be asstitant. In fact in some ways he's lovelier than I am. Not that I'm being vain of course…' Then she rambled on nervously for a bit, but you get the gist." Gwaine said smirking at an opened mouth Merlin.

"Wait, she was being serious?" Merlin asked incredulously, disbelief spread across his features.

Gwaine nodded, seriously. "Completely."

"I'm _lovely_?" Merlin asked, disgust seeping into his tone.

Gwaine shrugged. "Apparently. Look mate, don't ask me I don't have a single bloody clue as to how a female's mind works. But according to Gwen more girls will show up if they know you there, said something about 'ogling'."

Merlin's sounds of confusion echoed down the hallway for quite some time.

X

After the magic show, which had been entertaining in its absurdity, Merlin sat alone in his room contemplating today's events. Personally he thought the embarrassment of being the lovely assistant was worth it to see the strange way it had caused Arthur's face to contort when he had found the magic show. It may have even been worth noticing that there was a disproportionate amount of girls in the audience who seemed to stare intently and giggle over his slowly reddening cheeks. It however was _not_ worth the cut he had gotten when Gwaine tried the "cut him in half 'illusion'" nor had it been worth the _month_ of stable duty he had received.

And he wanted to clarify, even if it was only to himself. He had accepted it for the irony. Not because Gwaine was convincing. Or that defying Arthur gave him a thrill (it had long ceased to be that). He had done it for the irony of the most powerful warlock that ever existed to be the _assistant_ in a _magic_ show, in a kingdom where _magic_ was banned.

And as he cradled his wounded hand (Gwaine had not quite reached his waist before he was preemptively stopped) and looked towards a grueling month of stable duty he was unable to regret it completely.

It was, after all, hilariously ironic.

* * *

Everything after that 3rd X kind of sucked. Anyway have a good day or something like that. My mind is rather addled at the moment. Hope you liked it! I'm kind of disappointed that Merlin ended up accepting Gwaine's proposal because it meant I was denied using the epic line (which was the whole reason I wrote this thing):

Shawn: Okay. This is hard to explain but I'm going to give it a shot. You and I are opening our own private detective agency.  
Gus: Oh. See. No explanation necessary. Let me get my coat.  
Shawn: But you're not getting your coat!  
Gus: Ah, no. No, Shawn. No I'm not.

So very disappointed.

Something I want to mention last chapter but neglected to is that i feel like with my 15th chapter, I've hit some sort of milestone. So I just wanted to take the time to thank those who have stuck through (and continue to drag on) my stories since the very first. Thank you guys! Special thanks to CaptainOzone and Katerina Riley who have reviewed each and every ridiculous thing I've posted on this fic. You guys rock ;D

-Windy who is partial to cantaloupe.


	17. The Promised Clearing

Again, this isn't one of my best works. However in my a opinion it's a little better than that last one. Maybe. I don't know. Anyway. Actually I really don't have anything to say. Huh.

IDOM or Narnia

* * *

Arthur grudgingly stomped through the forest. They had been walking for _hours_. Why couldn't she just admit that they were lost already! When she had burst into his room this morning eyes dancing, a bright smile on her face (or was it a smirk? It was always hard to tell with her), and a left foot that wouldn't stop tapping, he knew it was going to be a trying day.

Nothing that had happened so far had proved to be contrary to this assumption.

"_Mor-ga-na!"_ Arthur whined, as he halted refusing to move another step forward, till she finally admitted she was lost.

"I am not _lost_, Arthur." Morgana snapped refusing to look around. But after several more minutes of aimless wondering she began to rethink her statement. "Okay," she sighed, as she sat on a boulder, her hand propping up her head in a defeated manner. "Maybe I _am_ lost."

She stomped her foot. "But I found this most marvelous clearing! One I'm sure you've never seen before."

Arthur scoffed. "I've traveled through every inch of this forest with Father on his hunting trips. There's not one inch of this forest that I haven't seen."

"Well, I know for a fact that you've never seen it." Morgana said with a victorious smirk.

"Oh? And hows that?" Arthur asked crossing his arms in disbelief.

"If you had seen it you would have bragged about it to me. Describing how the creek was a perfect "moat" for your castle, how the fallen trees made an ideal lookout spot to climb upon, or how they wildflowers bloomed in a manner that I, as a girl, would have loved. And then you would have told me it was a secret place where only brave 'men' go and where there are 'no girls allowed'." Morgana pointed out.

Arthur could not deny that this was true.

"I do wish you could have seen it though Arthur, you would have absolutely adored it. I was so sure it was around here…" Then Morgana sighed, she got up stretching slightly before looking at Arthur. "I don't suppose you remember the way back to the castle do you?" (She knew perfectly well that Arthur knew the way back, he had a fantastic sense of direction, she just wanted to bait him)

Arthur huffed. "Of course I know the way back to the castle you just-" And proceeded to give an excessively detailed version of the way home, which was not worth remembering or writing up. "-Now then, follow me." And he marched off, Morgana rolling her eyes behind him.

However they had not gone two steps when Arthur, in revenge for Morgana's "doubt", decided to say rather pompously. "That's the worst of girls, they never carry a map in their heads."

Morgan halted, spluttering indignantly. "That's because _our_ heads actually have something inside them!" She hissed at the slowly reddening boy.

"That's not true! _Everyone_ knows-"

"Shut your arrogant, pompous mouth Arthur Pendragon, or God help me, when we get back to the training field, I will shut it for you."

Arthur scoffed. "As if _you_ could beat _me_. Father says that I'm the best swordsman he's-"

"I don't care about what Uther says!" Morgana screeched. "I'm going to _trounce_ you when we get home!"

Now, the screaming of both Morgana and Arthur had managed to scare a good amount of innocent woodland creatures going about their day. On the downside it also managed to attract a completely different one.

Both children stopped mid-yell when they heard a rustle in the underbrush. And as it got louder, they began to slowly back up in perfect tandem. This initial wariness was proved correct when a very angry wild boar shot out from the underbrush.

"RUN!" Arthur shouted as he grabbed Morgana's hand, tugging her along into his hectic sprint. Neither of them knew how long they ran through the forest, sweaty hands tightly clutched together, the monotonous sound of their own harsh breathing and steady footfalls pounding at their ears as they angry squeals grew father and father away, they only knew when they could run no longer. The Pendragon children collapsed in a heap leaning up against one another panting heavily and fruitlessly trying to regain their breath.

Arthur, being the one physically trained by the Captain of the Guard (Morgana, despite pleading, had been denied this pleasure), was the first to recover. Slowly he pulled his head up to assess his surroundings. And his mouth dropped.

In front of him ran a gentle swerving stream, with stones that made a prefect bridge across. After the stream came a pebbled shore filled with tall trees that were encased in a circle of tall grass and big white flowers. Beyond that it was a seemingly endless field of blooming wildflowers. All of this was lit in the warm golden glow of the sun, bathing it in heavenly light. And at the risk of soundly like a complete girl, Arthur thought that it was the most beautiful place in all of Camelot.

"Morgana." Whispered Arthur as tugged urgently at her sleeve. "Mor_gana_ look! Morgana we found it!"

"Found wha-?" She snapped as she tiredly raised her head, and then she stopped. Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face. A real smile, not a smirky one. This one was full of joy and glee. Weariness forgotten in her elation Morgan leapt to her feet. "I knew it!" she crowed. "I just knew it was around here! Look Arthur, isn't perfect?"

Arthur had no other choice but to nod.

They spent the rest of the day scouting the area, and playing many a game of pretend where he and Morgana were the King and Queen of all Camelot (though of course they weren't _married_ that would be gross. They just had a mutual agreement of sharing power). All in all it was a perfect day. One of the few that did not end in the children going to blows.

As they walked home, still giggling over the day's events, Morgan turned to Arthur, a strangely serious look on her face. "Arthur, promise me you won't tell anyone about this place."

"Why not?" Arthur asked curiosity and undertone to the whine in his voice.

"Because," Morgana said, twirling her hair with her fingers. Arthur realized, rather belatedly that she was nervous. "Whenever, I try to hang out with your friends they always treat me like I'm made of glass. They never duel with me or let me play any of the games. And if they do they're obviously going on easy on me to 'save my pride'. It's just so frustrating! And worst of all whenever your with them that's how you treat me too, even though you _know_ it's not true." Arthur flinched at the hurt he could see blossoming in her eyes. "And I just want I place where we can be Morgana and Arthur, two kids who can be as rough and tough as they want. A place with no titles. And where you treat me like Morgana, you friend, and not the King's Ward."

Arthur tried not to look guilty as he replied. "It's Arthur and Morgana, but you've got a deal."

Arthur," Morgana said with an intense sincerity. " Swear to me on your honor as a prince that as long as were friends no one but you and me will every step foot in that clearing."

Arthur raised his hands in defense against her rather disarming gaze. "I swear! Jeez!" he rolled his eyes, before they lit up mischievously, "If you really want to make this a promise we should shake on it." Arthur spat on his hand before holding it out, eyes twinkling.

"Ugh!" Morgan said, a disgusted look on her face. "Arthur Pendragon, you are absolutely revolting!" Then she swept ahead of him and she did not turn to face him until they arrived back in Camelot.

X

Arthur kept his promise. Often they would venture down to their clearing during those few lingering years of childhood. But before long they were growing apart. Or to be more precise, Arthur was growing apart from Morgana. Suddenly, he did not want to be associated with Morgana. Every time she asked whether or not he wanted to go down to the clearing he would always decline. Though he always managed to come up with some insultingly stupid excuse, before hurrying off. His only interests were impressing the other noble boys and poking things with swords.

Eventually the clearing, and the promise that came with it drifted to the back corner of his mind and was forgotten. But Morgana never forgot. She never forgot their promise to one other. She remembered that promise even as she suggested the perfect place for His and Guinevere's first date. A place that had once been sacred to her and full of fond memories would now become the moment of her triumph against the imposter queen.

"After all," she thought to herself as she rode away from the clearing where Arthur and Gwen still laughed. "I only said as long as we're friends."

* * *

Meh. Hope you liked it! Drop a comment if you like. Otherwise have a good day! (I feel like someone at a fast food drive-through. Would like some fries with that?)

-Windy who doesn't even have a job but probably needs to get one


	18. Dragon Riddles

Wow, have I been gone a while. But I come back with an update of hopefully good quality. I have no excuse, except that I'm lazy and that is not an excuse in the slightest. Enjoy!

IDOM or HTTYD

* * *

Merlin hurried down the stone steps as fast as he was able, taking them two at a time. The torch that he held in his hand barely lit the way but he recklessly dashed on. He had to fix this, he just _had_ to. And the only one who could provide these answers lay just around the corner. The only question is _would_ he provide answers.

Merlin skidded to a stop inside the grand cavern, his eyes seeking out that large form that he knew so very well. "I need your help!"

The Great Dragon did nothing but stare at him, a scaly eyebrow raised. "I'd managed to deduce that much on my own, young warlock." It rasped out. "Now, what terror befalls Camelot this time?"

"It all started when this group of nobles came to visit for this function." Merlin began. "After the first night one of the palace staff turned up dead. And it has happened every night since. Every victim is the same, they're some palace staff and they all are completely drained of liquids, no blood, no water, no _anything_. They're completely dehydrated. Gauis and I think the creature is some sort of vampire, but we're not sure which type. Which means we don't know how to kill it." Merlin said frustradedly, before stomping. "And even if we did know what type the pox ridden thing was. It wouldn't matter, because w_e don't even know whose doing it in the first place!_"

Merlin pretty much shouted that last bit.

The dragon didn't look moved by Merlin's plight at all, though Merlin couldn't tell if this was actually true or whether the dragon's facial structure didn't allow for it. This thought was proceed by a long awkward pause in which Merlin stared expectantly at the dragon, while The Great Dragon preceded to not get the memo and stare awkwardly right back.

Finally the silence was too much for poor Merlin "Are you going to help or not?"

The Dragon cocked his head. "On the whole I think not."

"Not?" Merlin asked incredulously

"Not. I think you'd be more progressive in your magic studies if you were to find it on your own." Dragon stated calmly as if this was a perfectly reasonable assumption.

"More progess-more _progressive?!_ People are dying and you want me to waste time finding out what the thing is just because it will be _more progressive to my studies?_"

"Precisely."

"People are dying, does that mean nothing to you?" Merlin shouted

The Dragon sighed shaking its wings, before laying down on the rock. " You'll find that friends of Uther Pendragon mean very little to me young warlock. But since it means so much to you I will tell you this: The creature you're looking for is indeed a form of vampire, however unable to see the being myself I can't determine which type it is. However should you _reflect_ on the situation, I'm sure you'll be able to shed some _light_ on the matter." Then the dragon laid down it's head, closed it's eyes, and pretended to fall asleep. refusing to divulge any more information.

Merlin stared at him. "That's it?! I don't even know how to find this creature, let a lone kill it. And that's all you're going to give me: _think about it?!"_

Predictably the dragon said nothing.

"Fine!" Merlin shouted at the motionless lump. "See if I care! I'll figure this out by myself, without your worthless riddles!" Then he spun around and stomped up the stairs as loudly as possible in order to express his ill will towards the dragon. And as he went he muttered under his breath "Thank you for _nothing,_ you useless reptile."

The dragon's rumbling chuckle at that remark did nothing to decrease his ire.


	19. The Trouble with Children

Hello Faithful Readers! It is about time I updated again. This time I bring you another exciting Doctor Who quote. Because I definitely haven't done enough of those on here. But this one is special! Why? Because it was a request! A request that was only partially a request that was literally made a year ago. I finally got around to it! It's been stewing in my head for a while some I'm glad it's finally out here in the open. Honestly it turned out much better than expected, I like it quite a bit.

Speaking of requests: If guest LightningBolt21 would like his/her quote idea to be featured I'm going to need a more specific quote as I never have seen any of the movies.

Back to the subject at hand. This actually somewhat plays off my second chapter in this series: Spoilers. Though it isn't really necessary to have read it. Fun fact.

Anyway, this is for you CJaMes12!

IDOM or DW

* * *

Arthur knew that letting Merlin look after the children while he and Gwen were away was a horrible idea. This thought was confirmed when he walked into the meeting room. The sigh that met his eyes was Merlin, standing atop the round table, surrounded by piles of pillows, and sheets and toys, and most importantly his children, who were still in their pajamas. There was no doubt in his mind that Merlin had been parading them around all day in this manner.

"And then," Merlin proclaimed in a tone that indicated he was beguiling them with a story, "I turned towards the dastardly villain." His blue cloak was flapping as he spun dramatically towards the "villain" which was simply a stuffed griffin.

"And, making my case for magic, I said 'From the day they arrive on the planet, and blinking step into the sun. There is more to be seen, then can ever be seen. More to do then can ever be-' " Merlin paused here, scratching his head. "No wait that's the Lion King…"

Arthur grinned. He knew that Merlin was very well versed in the future and what happened in it due to the unorthodox amount of times Merlin was "forced" (that is to say worried anxiously until he finally gave in) to scry in the Crystal. He also knew that even when scrying for important things he often got useless information about developments and the like. This "Lion King" sounded like such a bit of information. Arthur had always hoped that Merlin's extensive knowledge of the future would come back to haunt him (he didn't really approve with how often Merlin looked at the Crystal, given all the nasty side effects. And he was hoping such a situation would deter Merlin from further attempts). Today looked like that day, and Arthur was just fortunate enough to witness it.

Arthur watched rather gleefully as his son peered up at Merlin with curious eyes and asked, "What's the Lion King?"

Merlin looked flustered, as if he hadn't realized that he'd said it a loud. "Uh-well… it's a movie…"

There was a decidedly blank look from his children.

Merlin's explanation spluttered back to life. "Which-which is a _story_ that's told through pictures…but not like the pictures in you're story books." He began to gesture here hands flapping as he tried to describe the subject " The pictures, they _move, _and they _talk_. But not with magic. And there's this screen…" He trailed off dejectedly his hands fell from where they had been held out above his head to express the magnitude of this "sceen" (or whatever it was called) and began to worry the back of his head once more.

After much contemplation he seemed to give up on the idea of trying to explain it in a manner the children would actually understand and instead focused on bringing the subject to a close as quickly as possible "And it's basically Shakespeare's Hamlet, but it takes place in the African savannah…with lions…hence the title really…" Merlin drifted off, before grinning widely at the children, think the matter to be done with.

Arthur smirked, because Merlin had yet to realize that he had only given them more weapons in which to badger him with questions. And then, in beautiful succession his children's voices piped up:

"What's Hamlet?"

"Who's Shakespeare?"

"What's an African savannah?"

Merlin groaned, and Arthur's smirk grew wider in victory as Merlin brought his hand up to his forehead and slapped himself. He could almost hear him mumbling "stupid,stupid,stupid…" from where he was standing.

And it was as if his malicious glee drew Merlin's attention because suddenly the raven haired idiot looked up and his blue eye's met Arthur's and he could see that Merlin had found what he was looking for: an out.

His posture zipped up straight and he was once more filled to the brimful with energy at the concept of being free of his charges. "Well, they're things, people, and places that happen in the far and distant future and which neither of us will be around to see created, born, or discovered so they don't really matter in the slightest and you definitely don't need to know I thing about them."

Then He squatted down close to the children, and leaned in closely and said, in voice barely above a whisper "But you must keep this a secret. It is very, very, _very_," He looked all the children in the eyes. "_Important_, that you never tell a soul. Because all these great and wonderful things, and people, and places, are meant to shock the world with their _magnificence_, and their _wonder_." He grinned, that grin of his that could light up a room. "And who are we to ruin the surprise?"

The children smiled too and he held up a pinky. "Promise?"

They nodded eagerly, and in a feat that stunned Arthur, he somehow managed to shake pinkies with all three children simultaneously.

Then with a speed that made Arthur's knees hurt just to look at, Merlin snapped to standing position, and clapped his hands in a show of finality. "That's that then." And then he made eye contact with Arthur and who saw the wicked gleam overtake them, which was just enough time to brace himself with a smile and a firmer stance before Merlin said "And look your father's home."

The last look that Arthur got of Merlin before being tackled to the ground by his children, was a smirk and the whipping of a sapphire cloak around the corner as he escaped from the potential of anymore prying questions.

* * *

Tell me what you think! And may I remind you guys I only need 2 more reviews until reaching a total of _60_ reviews (I know it says 59, but one of those was made by my sister through my account so it doesn't really count)

Anyways, thank you guys so much!

-Windy of the I really shouldn't even be up at this hour

(Also if anyone could think of a better Title for this chapter that would be much appreciated)


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